Riddles
by Baleful Eyes
Summary: Patience has a promise to keep; a promise she made to herself and a friend: find Mello. But one thing is still quite unclear. What is she supposed to do when she finds him? She now finds herself with two mysteries to solve.
1. The Beginning of the End

If you could have just one wish, what would it be? I would probably wish for something simple. Something so simple, yet so hard to obtain. I'd wish for a normal, happy life. That's something I'd never really had. Maybe at some points it was happy, but normal? Never. Maybe I should tell you my story.

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_"Mommy," I asked the woman holding my hand, "how much longer until we get there?"_

_"Any minute now," the woman answered._

_It was raining out, and the woman who I was referring to as my mother was taking me somewhere. I couldn't tell how she looked; her face wasn't visible to me. It was a black nothingness. As if its existence had faded away long ago._

_We came upon a small house, and walked up the front steps to its door. My "mother" rang the doorbell, and after about a minute, a light turned on, and I heard footsteps approaching the door. The door opened a crack, and an eye peered out. After seeing my "mother", the door shot open._

_"Emily!" the woman exclaimed. "What are you doing here? It's two in the morning!"_

_Another woman. A woman whose face was covered in darkness, not visible to me._

_She then glanced down at me. "You brought the kid? What are you thinking? Where is—"_

_"—Take her Annie," said the woman with me, whose name was apparently Emily. "Please."_

_Annie's eyes widened. "What? Are you crazy?"_

_"Annie," said Emily, in a voice way too calm considering the situation. "Do you trust me?"_

_Silence. After a short while, Annie spoke up._

_"Yes," she replied. "I do."_

_"Then take her, raise her as if she were your own child," said Emily._

_Now it was my turn to start freaking out._

_"Mommy," I said frantically. "Where are you going? Don't leave me here. I want to stay with you and Daddy!"_

_"It will be fine," said my "mother". "This is a nice lady. You're going to be with her now. Just do it for me, okay?" As she said this, she touched my hand, ever so softly. And when she did that, I could tell that she really did love me._

_I nodded, and then entered the house. I sat on the couch in the small living room, and listened to what the two women were speaking about._

_"Why?" it was Annie's voice. "What about her father? You and he—"_

_"—He's dead," Emily replied, cutting Annie off._

_I wasn't sure what that meant. Dead. I'd never heard that word before, but I could tell it was nothing good, for I could hear the horror in Annie's voice._

_"What?" was all she said. It was all she could say._

_"Just take her," Emily replied, somehow managing to stay amazingly calm. "Everything will make sense soon. I only ask one more favor of you. Don't tell her anything. Not about me, not about her father, not anything about her family or her past."_

_Silence again. After about a minute, Annie regained her voice and gave her answer._

_"Okay." _

My eyes shot open. I looked out the window. Nothing but pure sunshine came through.

I'd had that dream again. That dream I got every once in a while. I sometimes felt like that dream was real. A flashback, maybe. I saw it through the little girl's eyes, but I still didn't know if it was really me.

Sometimes I wonder if that's how I was adopted. I'd asked my mother once, but she said that I was talking nonsense.

My mom's name was Annabelle. Annabelle Riddle. It would make sense if the lady in the dream was her, but no one called her Annie, not even her closest friends. She said she hated that nickname.

Anyway, I looked at the clock, and saw that it was about time for me to get ready for school. I dragged myself out of bed and got myself dressed.

As I came down the stairs I saw my mom getting ready for work. Although my mother adopted me, I loved her as if she was my real mother. As for the woman in my dreams, I wasn't sure if she was my real mother or not. I wasn't even sure if she was _real_ or not.

I looked at my mom, and stared at her young face. She was only thirty-six. It was rather odd; she had adopted me at such a young age.

I grabbed a granola bar and my jacket and backpack.

"Good morning to you too, Piper," my mom said, rolling her eyes at the fact I was, once again, about to leave without saying anything. "Leaving already?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I have to get to school early so Rachel and I can finish our project."

"Well good luck," she said with a smile.

I walked out of the kitchen and to the front door. I opened it up and stepped outside, looking at the beautiful winter landscape. Everything was covered in a fresh coat of pure, white snow. As I took another step forward I stopped when I heard something.

_Thump_

It had come from inside. I went back towards the kitchen, where I had heard it, and stopped dead in my tracks at the site.

My mother was sprawled on the floor, eyes wide open, totally unresponsive.

After unsuccessfully trying to wake her up, I called 911. An ambulance picked us up.

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I was sitting in the waiting room of the ER, unsure of what to do. Suddenly I heard the clacking of high heels on the floor.

I turned my head to see a woman with red hair wearing a business suit. She stopped when she got to me, and sat down in the chair beside me.

"Piper, right?" asked the woman.

I nodded. What did she want with me?

"My name is Jessica," she explained.

I looked at her a little strangely, but nodded.

"Piper, I'm very sorry to tell you this, but your mother is dead."

"What?" I said. "What do you mean she's dead?" I didn't wait for a response. "Mommy can't be gone; she was just here this morning! I saw her and talked to her! She's not dead! Where is she? Take me to my mommy!" My vision was blurred with tears, and I was filled with anger towards Jessica, refusing to believe her words.

"Piper, I'm sorry," she said, making sure I didn't give some other patient a heart attack from my sudden screaming. "She had a seizure, and by the time the ambulance arrived there was nothing left they could do. She's not coming back."

"Mommy... is… what happens now?" I asked, now curled up in a ball.

"We're going to help you now, Piper," Jessica said, putting her hand on my knee. "You're going to have a new home and new friends. It'll all be okay in time."

"A new home? I… I don't want to leave," I said, shaking at the thought of having to leave all of my friends behind.

"Don't worry. The people there are very nice," she assured me. "You'll be living in a beautiful place. It's called Wammy's House."

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Jessica and I walked through the gate, and were greeted by a girl who looked around the age of sixteen.

"Well, this is where I get off," Jessica said.

"What?" I said, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. "But I just met you."

She smiled at me and said, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. You're a strong kid." And then she walked away. Through the large gates, into a car and she drove off. She left me. I was abandoned again.

People left me a lot as a child; not just my original parents, who abandoned me. I had a best friend; we were with each other for years, but we got into an argument so she stopped being friends with me, taking all of our other friends with her.

After that I stayed by myself for a long time, until another girl started being nice to me. She would let me play with her and her friends, and I was happy again. Then she moved. After a while, her friends didn't play with me anymore. They were her friends—not mine.

I had friends back home, but after my mom died, I had to leave them.

I was no doubt reluctant about coming to this place, and especially of becoming attached to it.

I looked up at the girl who had come to get me; she was a tall, with dark brown hair and a warm smile on her face. Not being in the best of moods, I didn't smile back. After a moment of awkward silence, she spoke up.

"I'm May," she said. "I'm going to be one of thy new roommates. We should go inside now; it's parky."

I nodded, and we walked inside. We passed several rooms, and several kids of all ages, doing all different things. We passed by one boy who caught my attention. He had snow white hair, and was crouched down, making a card house. He seemed to be the only one who was alone.

"Hello Near," said May, in cheery voice.

"Hello," he replied in one with no emotion, not even bothering to look up at her.

As we walked away I heard one girl who had heard the exchange say to her friend, "I don't know why she even bothers."

We got to our room and walked inside, where two other girls were. One looked around fifteen, and was listening to some music as she skimmed through a magazine. The other looked around twelve, and was drawing.

"Girls, I'm back," May said.

"Hiya May!" said the younger girl, putting down her crayons. "You brought the new girl back with you," she observed.

"Aye," May replied.

"I'm Allison," said the younger girl. "You're going to really like it here! May is really nice to everybody."

"Way _too_ nice, if you ask me," said the girl listening to music.

"And that's Joy," she said, pointing to the girl who had just spoken. "Don't bother trying to talk to her, she's a jerk."

"I heard that," said Joy.

"That was my intention," Allison replied with a grin.

Seeing Allison stare at me, expecting me to say something, I decided to introduce myself. "My name is—"

"—Wow!" May exclaimed, cutting me off. "Thou hasn't picked a name yet."

"Picked a name?" I repeated, confused.

"You don't have one yet?" Allison questioned. "Everyone at Wammy's has to get a new name."

"Why?" I asked.

"Thinks of it as starting over," May explained.

I stared at her for a moment. Starting over… that sounded nice. "Well, how do I pick a name?" I asked.

"You just _pick_ one," Joy said, staring at me like I was an idiot.

"It can be anything," May said, giving Joy a warning look. "Some people pick their name for a reason. For instance, I was born in May. I know a girl who likes flowers, so she picked name Rose."

"I just liked the name Allison, so I picked it," Allison explained.

"And there are other ways, too," May said. "Some people do it based on their personality."

"Like Peace!" said Allison. "She's really nice, and _never_ gets into fights."

"And some do opposite of their personalities," May added.

Hearing this, Joy laughed dryly. "I can think of a few," she said. "Mello, the most easily ticked off person on Earth, and Near, a huge loner."

"And Joy!" Allison chimed in. "She's a downer!"

"Whopper," Joy snapped.

"See?" said Allison.

The two girls began to argue, and May was trying to get the two of them to calm down. When she finally managed, I was already rather annoyed. To keep myself from snapping, I told myself, "patience". I told myself that a lot, considering I had no patience at all.

"Patience?" May echoed. "I like it."

"It's nice!" Allison added.

"I'm easy," said Joy, returning to her magazine.

"Patience," I said. "Okay, I'm Patience."

And that was how I picked my new name. Patience. The first step into my new life. The first step into my new problems.

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Several hours had passed, most of which I had spent staring at the wall, thinking. The Wammy's House. Why was _I_ there? Allison told me it was an orphanage for gifted children, and I was definitely _not_ gifted.

I was smart and got good grades, but not good enough to be considered gifted. I couldn't play any instruments, and I didn't sing. I wasn't too bad at sports, but I was no *_insert name of famous athlete here._* Anyway, I preferred staying in the bleachers.

And why this orphanage? The Wammy's House was probably a chain of orphanages. There were probably a lot of them. This one was in England, which is far away from where I had lived. I was from America for crying out loud!

"Patience," said Allison. Silence. "_Patiiiiiiience_," she said a little louder. Still nothing. "Patience!" she shouted. Oh, right. I'm Patience.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's time for dinner/supper," she said. "I want to introduce you to some of the people here."

We went into the dining hall, where Allison dragged me by the hand and forced me to meet many people.

I met Rose and Peace, whom I had already heard about, and many others as well.

There was Linda, a skilled artist; Melody, who enjoyed playing the violin and had memorized one hundred twenty pieces after hearing them once, and apparently could do that with just about anything, songs or not; there was Brandon, some smart kid; Hannah (I don't know what her skill was; all I knew was that she had dyed her hair a shade of neon blue so bright that it made my eyes hurt); after that I stopped paying attention.

"And that," said Allison, pointing to the boy who I had seen earlier, with the snow white hair, "is Near. He doesn't really talk to people a lot. Linda sometimes tries to get him to hang out with people, but he says he's fine being alone."

I smiled a bit, a sad smile. He reminded me of myself, somewhat. I'd always been by myself, and had no desire to be with others, I'd enjoyed being by myself, and I had fun that way. Though truthfully, part of the reason I did it was so I couldn't become attached to people, because then I would end up getting hurt.

All of a sudden I heard a crash. I freaked out at first, thinking someone was having a seizure, but I realized I was overreacting; my mother's death had really gotten to me.

The theory was quickly proven wrong when arguing was heard immediately after. I turned my head to see, not surprisingly, Joy, yelling at some kid, blaming him for knocking over her food. He, on the other hand, was blaming her, and his friend who was standing nearby couldn't have cared less.

"That's Matt," said Allison, pointing to the boy who was too preoccupied with his handheld video game to care about his friend's situation. "And that's Mello," she said, pointing to the blonde boy who was yelling at my roommate, "he and Joy are rowing quite often. You get used to it after a while."

I couldn't help but laugh slightly when she told me that. I noticed several different reactions from the children watching. Some were continuing with their conversation, ignoring the shouting coming from nearby. Others looked annoyed, I could hear one kid say, "Here we go again," and other children were watching closely while eating.

"What's up with them?" I asked Allison, pointing to the children staring at Mello and Joy, looking amused while eating their dinner.

"Oh, them?" Allison said. "Yeah, we all have different reactions to when those two have at it. Those guys enjoy it. It's quite fun to watch, actually."

I laughed at this, then walked over to the kid playing video games, Matt, and watched him. By then the argument had died down, and the children had all gone back to their conversations. I stared at his screen; he was on a boss level or something.

'_Wait, I remember that game, I've played it before_,' I thought. "You have to use your power canon," I told him.

"What?" he said, not sure if I was talking to him.

"Your power canon," I repeated, "it's the only way to beat him. If you don't, you die not matter what else you try."

"Alright then," he said, blowing me off. At that moment, he died. "Blast it!" he shouted.

"Told you so," I bragged.

"You," he said in a warning tone.

At that point his friend, Mello, walked over. "Matt, are you coming?" he asked. Then he noticed me. "Who's this?"

"My name's Patience," I replied, somewhat used to the new name by then.

"I'm Mello, and that's Matt," he said, pointing to his friend. "Come on, Matt. You can do that at the table."

Mello began to walk away, and Matt then looked at me. "You've played this before?" he asked.

"And beat it," I said with a smirk. "Why? You want to learn from the master?"

Matt frowned, but nodded nonetheless, and I walked with him towards his table, Allison smiling as she tailed me.

That was the day I met Matt and Mello. These two boys were some of the people I would come to grow fond of at Wammy's. I guess I hadn't remembered to stay by myself, since it always ends up the same. I always end up alone.


	2. On the Second Day at Wammy's

"Patience," I heard a voice say, "you have to get up now."

In response I put my pillow over my head.

"It's already seven twenty," the voice pressed. I didn't make any move to get up. "Come on, now, don't be a slug-abed!" I groaned. I always _did_ hate getting out of bed.

"I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice. Joy! Go get the ice water!"

_That_ got me up.

"Wow, no need for ice water!" I said, shooting up.

"Aww," Joy whined. Apparently she had been looking forward to it.

I heard a laugh, and turned to see who had been talking. It was, unsurprisingly, Allison.

"Why do I have to get up now?" I asked. "It's Saturday."

"I'm aware," Allison assured me, "but you have an appointment."

"Appointment?" I echoed.

"Yep, so get dressed!" she ordered.

I began to get changed, and I noticed that a little girl, around the age of five, was in the room.

"Who's this?" I asked.

"This is Birdie," Allison said.

"Allison and I are going take you to go see Mr. Ruvie," said the girl.

"Mr. Ruvie?" I echoed.

Joy sighed. "Does this lass know anything?"

"Joy, don't be a git," said Allison. "I know you can't help it, but at least try." She then turned to address me and said, "Mr. Ruvie is the temporary manager here at Wammy's."

"Temporary? Who's he filling in for?" I asked.

"Mr. Wammy," she explained. "Mr. Ruvie fills in for Mr. Wammy whenever he's gone. Though he's been gone for a while now, so we think of Mr. Ruvie as the manager.

"He picked an odd job though, seeing as he hates kids."

"Yeah, well they're not too fond of him either," said Joy.

"Where's May?" I asked.

"Out getting something for Mr. Ruvie," Allison answered. "Then when she gets back she's going to go through some kids' files or something."

"She's allowed to go through people's files?" I asked.

"You ask a lot of questions," Birdie noted.

Allison giggled. "Yeah, May's allowed to because there's a lot of work for Mr. Ruvie to do, and the other people who work here are too engaged with making sure that we don't burn down the place. Plus she's the only kid in this entire place he trusts won't do something bad."

"Everybody likes May!" Birdie added.

"That's right," Allison said with a laugh.

At that point I had finished dressing. "Okay then," I said, "I guess I'm all ready to go."

"Hooray! Let's get moving ladies!" ordered Birdie.

"Alright," said Allison. "Joy, do you want to come?"

"No," Joy replied immediately after being asked.

"Oh well," I said. "Allison, I think we'd better go now. Birdie's already half way down the hall."

"It's fine," Allison assured me, "that kid has a short attention span."

After catching up to Birdie, which didn't take very long, we all headed to see Roger.

"Hey, Allison, you guys never told me your skills that got you in here," I said. "What's your talent?"

"Oh, that's an easy question," Allison said. "May is a genius; I don't think there's anything she _doesn't_ know. She's one of the top ten kids here.

"I can speak, let's see, one, two, three… five different languages fluently.  
"And Joy… well apparently she can play the guitar really well, but I think she got in because she has the talent of being able to make even the happiest person ever want to kill themselves."

"Okay," I said. "Not in front of the five year old." I then glanced down at Birdie. "What about Birdie?"

"Birdie?" said Allison. "Let's see… Birdie, what is one thousand three hundred and sixty-five divided by three?"

Birdie stopped, and put her finger to her lip, pondering this for a moment. After about five seconds she answered, "four hundred and fifty-five."

"Wow," I said.

"Yeah," Allison replied. "A lot of the kids here try and have her to do their math homework. It's awful."

"Would you happen to be one of those kids, Allison?" I asked.

After a moment of awkward silence, Allison said, "Hey Birdie, why don't you tell us how you decided to pick the name Birdie?"

'_I'll take that as a yes_,' I thought.

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After several minutes of hearing Birdie rant about birds, the three of us arrived at Mr. Ruvie's office, and entered. There sat a fragile old man at a desk. He wore glasses and was reading a book, while his work sat next to him, already having been finished. "Come in," he said.

Birdie, Allison and I all walked in… well, Allison and I did, Birdie _skipped_ in.

"You are Patience, I presume," he said.

I nodded.

"Have you become accustomed to the Wammy's House?" he asked.

An odd question to ask, seeing as this was only my second day here. Nonetheless, I nodded. I wasn't exactly eager to talk because he was making me feel rather uncomfortable.

"I see," he said. Was this an interrogation or something? "While you are here I should have you know that this orphanage is for only the most talented students. You must be under your best behavior at all times."

"What?" said Allison in disbelief. "Then why in God's name is _Joy _still here?"

Mr. Ruvie then gave Allison a warning look, and she quickly shut up.

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After about fifteen torturous minutes of Mr. Ruvie talking, he finally finished. "Any questions?" he said.

Questions… I actually had several, but I wasn't going to press my luck, and so I only chose one.

"Umm, yes," I said. "Actually, I was wondering if there are any files on me that I could look at."

"No, that's not possible," Mr. Ruvie said.

"But please," I begged, "I just want to find out who my birthmother is."

Okay, so you should probably know that I'd always wanted to learn more about my mother—my birthmother, that is—but I could never get information on her. I asked my mom, but she said she didn't know anything.

My mother never legally changed my name, so whatever my birth mother's surname was, was technically my surname as well, though I used my adoptive mother's surname—Riddle.

When asked about what my real surname was, my mother had insisted that the adoption agency had only told her my first name. I'd been ten, so I took her word for it. She obviously knew more about that kind of stuff than I did; that's what I figured.

Whenever I brought up my reoccurring dream about the woman named Emily, she would say that it wasn't true. I remember she eventually got really angry about it, since at one point I was always talking about it.

After I'd kept pushing for answers for a while I became frustrated with my mom's refusal to confirm my theory, so I shouted, "But you're not my real mother!"

Probably not the nicest thing to say, and for that I got a slap in the face, and my mother then locked herself in her bedroom for about an hour.

"You can't look at your files," he said.

"Well can you?" I asked. "Then you could tell me just that one thing so I can—"

"—No!" Mr. Ruvie interrupted.

I wasn't going to give up so easily; I'd bugged my mother for well over a month before I'd given up on finding anything out from her. I was about to continue the argument when the door to the office opened.

"May!" cheered Birdie, running up and hugging May.

Allison stared at me curiously.

"Nice to see thee, too, love," May said with a laugh. "Mr. Ruvie, I picked up that letter thou was talking about."

"Thank you, May," he replied. "I'll be leaving in fifteen minutes, and then you can sort the files. I won't be gone long, though."

"Okay," said May.

All of us left the office, and as we walked away (Birdie, once again, skipping), Allison was already in the middle of a plan she had come up with.

"Hey May," she said. "Do you think you can do me a favor, please?"

"It depends on what it is," said May, sounding suspicious.

Allison glanced at me and then asked, "Can you go through Patience's file?"

"What?" May exclaimed.

"She just wants to find out her birthmother," Allison explained, "right Patience?"

I nodded.

"I can't be going through peoples" file! I'm not even supposed to be _reading_ them! I just organize them," she explained.

"Please May," I said, "I just want to know who my birthmother is. I've never known her, and I have a feeling she's still alive. I might be able to find her."

"Soz, Patience, but I won't. And anyroad, it's not like there's much information about childer here. Not even _Mr. Ruvie _knows their real name. All that's in there is information about their talents, and some other things—like person who was in charge of their registration, or day they arrived here or summat."

"Even so, couldn't you try? You might be able to find something," I pointed out.

As I said this, Allison was whispering something into Birdie's ear.

"May, can't you do it?" Birdie begged. "For me?"

May sighed. Apparently Allison had just pulled an ace out on her. "Aye," said May, giving in, "but I have to get me work done first, and with time I have left, I'll look for thy file, Patience."

May nodded, and then turned to Allison. "Well now, Allison," she said, "that was right awful."

"I try," said Allison with a triumphant smirk. "Very good; have at it, then!"

"We have another twelve minute while Mr. Ruvie leaves," May informed her.

"Okay, twelve minutes it is," Allison agreed.

May had said yes. Suddenly I felt hopeful, sure that May would succeed. I knew it, I knew she wouldn't fail. I would find out who my mother was.

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Roger had left, so Allison, Birdie and I were wandering in the hallways, trying to pass the time. Allison had insisted that we follow her, since she had someone she needed to go see. After a while we finally found who she had been looking for: Mello.

"Hiya Mello!" Allison exclaimed.

"Hey," he replied. When he noticed Birdie and I were accompanying her he raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. He didn't exactly know me well, and I'm guessing he didn't usually socialize with five year olds.

"I just have to ask you a question," Allison explained. "Can you help?"

Reluctantly, Mello replied. "Fine, what is it?"

"Great—oh, but first I forgot something," Allison said. "Birdie, Patience, you lot stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

"Allison!" he called after her, annoyed with her antics. For about three minutes, Mello and I had to listen to Birdie talking about the kind of random, weird stuff five year olds talk about. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Allison came back.

"What did you need?" I asked, seeing as she had brought nothing with her.

"Oh, well that's simple," Allison said, with a mischievous grin.

"What did you do?" Mello said, knowing he would regret asking.

"Moi?" Allison said, offended. "Why I'd _never!_"

"You would and you _have_," Mello replied, causing Allison to shrug in defeat. Apparently Mello was used to this.

"Alright, I'll own. I was talking to Joy, and the two of us made a little deal. Right now she's speaking with Lacey," Allison said.

Mello seemed to wince at the sound of the name.

"Who's Lacey?" I asked.

"Lacey's a dear!" Allison raved. "She's always so _kind _and _honest_, and she has a little crush on Mello."

"A _little?_" Mello said. "I wish."

"Anyhoo," Allison said, "she's telling Lacey about Patience, since Lacey _loves_ meeting new people."

"Where is this going...?" Mello dared to ask.

"Well," Allison said, with her maniacal grin returning, "Joy's telling her that you and Patience are dating."

"What?" Mello and I said at the same time, him sounding much more concerned than me.

"Mello," I said, "what's going on?"

"Lacey's nice to me," said Birdie, "but one time someone got her mad, and she broked his wrist."

"Yeah," said Allison, "she can be nice, but she's very tetchy and violent."

As Allison said this Joy came running up. "She's on her way. I just outran her."

"How do you _outrun Lacey?_" Allison said, bewildered.

"You trip her," Joy replied matter-o-factly.

"Joy! Allison!" I exclaimed. "Why would you guys do that?"

Allison shrugged, and Joy simply responded, "There was nothing good on TV. Just reruns of—"

Mello grabbed my wrist and he ran like his life depended on it. He actually grabbed the sweatband that I always wore on my wrist, so it slid down. I kept telling him to stop, but he just kept running, until he got to his room and locked the door.

Panting, I told him to let go of my wrist. Not realizing he had been doing so, he looked down at his hand, and let go.

Oh, why did he have to look down? That's what I had been dreading.

I quickly pulled my sweatband up, though he grabbed my arm and pulled it down, revealing my scar.

"You did this?" he asked.

Reluctantly, I nodded. I'd only done it once, actually; a long time ago after seeing an older kid do it. It hurt, and after wondering why anyone in their right mind would ever do something that _dumb_, I ran home crying to my mother; she was _not_ happy.

I had to get stitches, and was then told by the doctor that if the mark _did_ eventually fade, it would take several years.

After explaining why I'd done it, my mother and I went home. Then the child who I'd originally seen do it was confronted by her parents—cursing my name in the process—and I was never allowed to hold a pair of scissors again. Not even safety scissors, since that was what I used. Turns out they're not that safe.

"Don't," he said.

"Why not? It's none of your business," I argued, even though I hadn't planned on doing it again.

"Yeah it is," he said. "Matt seems to like you; he thought you were a good person. If you're his friend then, that makes you my friend, too."

A friend... "All my friends went away," I said. "People always end up leaving me."

"I won't leave," he said.

My eyes widened at this. I stared at him in disbelief, and whispered, "You won't?"

"No," he assured me.

"Promise?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes, but nonetheless, he agreed. "Promise."

All of a sudden a loud knocking was heard on the door.

"Mello!" a voice called. "I know she's in there with you!"

"Oh heck," he said. "It's Lacey."


	3. Fork in the Road

"Open up!" she shouted, continuously banging on the door.

"Lacey!" a voice boomed. "Quiet down!"

"Fine," said Lacey, "but I still ain't moving."

I recognized that voice, it was Roger! I listened as he walked away, and when his footsteps faded, I knew the coast was clear. "Allison?" I said, hoping she was still nearby. "Can you tell Lacey the truth now?"

Sure enough, she replied. "Yeah, sure. Lacey! Joy lied."

"What?" Joy and Lacey exclaimed at the same time.

"Of course it was a lie," said Allison. "We're what, ten and eleven year olds? Dating, really? And it's her second day here! You're just a mug."

"No need!" Joy protested. "Nobody even got punched."

"As much as I would enjoy seeing that," Allison said, "I have to respect Patience's wishes."

"Fine," Joy mumbled.

I then opened the door, only to have my exit blocked by Joy and another girl around Mello's age, who was most likely Lacey. Lacey, to talk to Mello, and Joy to make sure Mello couldn't escape.

Apparently Joy really didn't like Mello, that or she just _really_ liked making people miserable. Or both.

Had Mello not been there to preoccupy Lacey's attention, she would most likely be hurting Joy and Allison, for lying to her, and for tripping her.

"Hello," she said, "me name is Lacey. Sorry about that misunderstanding. You must be Patience. It's nice to meet you." Now I could tell why she picked the name Lacey. Around her neck she wore a black lace.

I nodded. "You too." I knew that since Roger was there that May had probably finished her work, and maybe even seen my file by then. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go."

Lacey stepped out of the way to let me pass by, but surprisingly, Mello grabbed my arm. "I have to go with her, too," he said. At first I was somewhat confused, but seeing as how Mello was mortified of Lacey, it became clear rather quickly.

"Well then I'll go with you lot," Lacey said.

"I'll stay here," a voice said.

We all looked down to see Matt sitting by the doorway, playing a video game. Birdie and Allison were watching him, intrigued.

"When the hell did you get here?" Joy wondered. In response, Matt shrugged.

"Oh, no, if I'm going then you're coming with me," Mello said, grabbing Matt by the collar as Allison, Birdie, Joy and I walked away, with Lacey following us, having a firm grip on Mello's arm. Mello turned to look at Allison." Allison, remind me to kill you later."

Allison giggled. "Will do," she said, winking at him.

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While walking back to my room with the others, Allison, who had been behind me, sped up so that she could walk next to me.

"Hey, Patience," she said.

"What?" I asked. "I'm still annoyed about you having me get chased after for your own amusement."

"I wouldn't have let her do anything bad to you," Allison told me. "Anyway, are we okay about that? It was supposed to be a joke. I'm sorry."

I raised an eyebrow; this seemed unlike Allison. "Yeah, it's fine," I assured her.

"Okay," she said. Then she simply dropped the subject and stopped talking.

"What's the big deal?" I asked.

"I just haven't had a whole lot of mates who are girls," she said.

Friend? Me? "I'm your friend?" I asked. "Are you sure you want to be my friend?"

She looked as sincere as I'd ever seen her when she said to me, "Yes, of course!"

"Okay, we can be friends," I told her. "It's just… I've had a lot of friends leave me."

"That's okay!" Allison said. "Because we'll be friends forever! I promise."

I don't know why, but for some reason when she said that, I truly did believe her.

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We all walked into the bedroom I shared with Joy, May and Allison, to find May sitting on her bed, reading a book.

"We're back!" Birdie announced, skipping over to May. Apparently that kid _really_ liked skipping.

"Oh, that's good," said May, somewhat nervously.

"May, did you find it?" I asked.

"Find what?" Lacey asked, interested in our conversation.

I didn't really want to tell her, but it didn't matter, seeing as Birdie had no problem explaining. "Her mummy's name!"

Lacey looked somewhat taken aback, but nodded in understanding.

"Well," May said, "I looked at thy file, but I didn't find thy mother's name."

I frowned, and my hopes that she'd make a discovery began to fade.

"But, I did find summat," she explained. "Thou remembers that woman who brought thee here?"

"Jessica," I said, "yeah, I remember her. What about her?"

"Well, I found out that she was good friends with thy mother. Thy adoptive mother, that is. She wanted thee to go to this specific orphanage, and she even recommended thee to Mr. Ruvie."

"She did," I said, stunned, "but why?"

"I don't know," May admitted. "Only other information I found out about her was her location and full name."

"Which is?" Allison said.

"Well, she lives in Japan, and her name is Emily Jessica Lockwood."

Hearing that I stiffened. Emily. The name from my dreams. Did this mean that Jessica was my mother?

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Three years. Three years I had been at The Wammy's House, and the time went by so quickly. Those were a great three years, but I should have known better than to think it would last.

I was in one of the hallways, just walking around, admiring the grand structure of the Wammy's House, which never ceased to amaze me. Three years, and it still didn't cease to amaze me. I then saw Mello walk around the corner, coat in hand; he was walking rather quickly. "Mello?" I said.

He turned to me, and his eyes widened, as if he'd forgotten something. He walked towards me and said, "Patience, I'm leaving."

My eyes widened. "What?" I managed to choke out.

"L is dead," he explained. "I can't stay here, I'm going to leave. Near will work on the Kira case, he can be L's successor. I might work on the Kira case myself when I leave. You can come, too, if you want."

"Why?" I asked.

"We know that Kira's in Japan, and that's where Jessica is. You think she's your mother, right?" he said. I had told him about this some time ago. "Well, if you come with me, then you'll eventually be able to find her."

Mello was right, since the Kira murders had started in Japan, that's probably where Kira was.

May had told me that Jessica lived in Japan. I'd asked her if she knew exactly where, and she had said somewhere in the Kanto region.

If I worked on the Kira case, I could eventually find Jessica, and I could learn the truth.

But, leaving Wammy's… could I really do that? Could I leave Allison, and all the other people I'd grown fond of? Mello was my friend too, though. Not to mention he was going towards Kira, who was in Japan, where Jessica lived.

Then my mother came to my mind, my adoptive mother, Annabelle. She may have not been my birthmother, but she had loved me as if she had been.

She never wanted me to find my real mother, though she and I both knew that I'd eventually go searching for her.

But like this? Would my mom want me to do this? Still, I needed to find my real mother. I literally, _needed_ to.

"Well?" said Mello, waiting for an answer. That's it; I knew my answer.

"I... I can't," I said. I wanted to find Jessica; I would find Jessica and ask her if she was my mother. Not like this, though. "Please Mello," I begged. "You can't leave here. What about Matt and Allison and Lacey and… you just can't."

He became angry again, and walked down the hallway. "There's nothing you can do about it," he said.

And then, Mello was gone. I didn't know what to do. All I knew is that Allison would hate me if she ever figured out that I could have stopped him.

Allison evidently found out that Mello had left, though she wasn't aware that he'd asked me to come with him. I didn't know what else to say, what else I could do. She was silent for several days, and you don't even want to know how Lacey took all of this.

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I was ready to leave the Wammy's House. What Mello said had sunk into me, and I knew that the only excuse I could get for going to Japan as soon as possible was to work on the Kira case.

I couldn't wait until I aged out of the system, so I left. No, I didn't go to Mello. I didn't know where he was, and even if I did, I wouldn't have had the guts.

Near. Mello had said that Near was going to work on the Kira case. If I needed to find Jessica by working on the Kira case, then I didn't want my conscious killing me about running away.

I'd talked to Near, and he didn't seem to mind if I worked on the case. He already knew about me thinking Jessica was my mom, since I'd always vent to him whenever I got stressed.

Not many people from the orphanage knew I was going to work with Near on the case. The only people who did were Mr. Ruvie, Joy, Allison, and May.

By then May wasn't at Wammy's anymore; she'd left a while ago, but I had wanted to tell her anyway.

I can still clearly remember the day I left. I hugged each of the girls—even Joy—and said goodbye. My mind was filled with all of the possible things that could happen to me. It was like I wasn't even there.

"Patience," Allison said, bringing me back to reality, "you have to promise me something."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Whatever you do, please," she said, "please bring Mello back."

"I will," I assured her. "I promise I will, Allison."

I promised that, and I meant it, but deep down I knew that I would probably never see Mello again.

If only I'd known how wrong I was...


	4. Where They Are Now

_**Patience**_

"Patience," said Lidner, "You've got five minutes, and then we're going to start."

"Okay, thanks," I said. I pulled my cell phone back up to my face and continued with my conversation.

"So, are thou sure thar okay?" May asked.

I sighed, "May, I've been here for years. I'm an adult. I can take care of myself."

"Aye, I am well aware," she said. "I just have a tendency to become nervous."

"I'll be fine," I assured her. "It's been a year now, and the only one you should be worrying about is Allison. For all we know she's already burned down her apartment… twice."

"By gum; don't remind me," May said.

"So," I said, "what about you? Are you going to be alright?"

At first there was silence, as if she wasn't quite sure what I was talking about. "Oh," she said, grasping what I meant, "don't worry Patience I'll be fine. Odds he'll find me are slim to none."

"But May," I said, "we know Kira's in Japan. Did you _have_ to move there?"

"Aye, I did," she said, defending herself. "I had to, for me job. Anyroad, even if Kira _did _find me, what reason would he have to kill me?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I admitted.

"Well then," May said, wanting to get back to what we had been talking about before we were so worried with each other's safety, "what about summer?"

"Summer?" I echoed. "I don't know about that. Maybe spring, since summer's too hot. I don't want to have to listen to Allison and Birdie complaining for hours. God knows what Joy would do."

"I suppose that's true," May said with a laugh.

"Though overall it's up to you of course," I reminded her. "Stop asking for others approval. As Allison would say, 'Do something for yourself once in your life'."

"Aye, she _would_ say that, wouldn't she?" May said with a laugh. "Oh, I'm pulling up now, I have to go. Soz."

"It's fine," I assured her, looking at my watch. "I have to get going too. Bye."

"Bye love. Be sure to give me a ring sometime soon," she said. Then we hung up.

* * *

**_May_**

May pulled her car over into a crowded parking lot. She hopped out and rushed over to a man dressed much more casually than her. "I'm sorry I'm late, Nakamura-san," she apologized, her Japanese perfectly fluent.

"Thank goodness," he said, "I was starting to get worried." Luckily for May, she and Nakamura were friends outside of work, so he was somewhat more lenient with her. Nakamura turned his head, and noticed another man among the crowd of people which was scurrying around them. "Hey, Kinjo-kun!" he shouted.

The man, Kinjo, heard his name being called, and walked over. "What do you need?" he asked.

"Get the girl over here," he ordered. "I need to see her before we start to make sure she's alright."

Kinjo nodded, and ran off to find the girl he had spoken of.

"So, you said you'd tell me. What's his name?"

"Eli," May said, "I met him in college."

"What's he do?" the man pressed.

"Geez Nakamura-san, nosy much?" she said, somewhat annoyed. "He's a doctor."

"That explains it," Nakamura said with a laugh. "Let me see it again."

May sighed, but nonetheless, did as he said. He stared at the ring placed on her left ring finger. It was silver, and had a sole diamond placed in the middle. It wasn't flashy, in fact, it was rather modest. Yet even so it was beautiful. It suited May perfectly.

"Wow," Nakamura said in awe, "so when's the wedding?"

"Sometime next spring, probably," she told him.

Nakamura was about to say something else, but was cut off when Kinjo rushed over with the girl Nakamura had wanted to see.

"I got her right here," Kinjo said.

Nakamura stared the young woman up and down, and after about a minute, said, "Okay, she looks good."

That was a large understatement. The young woman wore an elegant dress, and had a barrette placed in her carefully combed hair. She didn't wear much makeup, since she didn't need it. Her lips were glossed a lovely shade of red, and the mascara she wore made her beautiful eyes stand out.

"Hello eigakantoku-san, May-chan," she said politely.

"What?" asked Nakamura, confused. "May-kun, she knows you?"

"Yeah," May said with a laugh. "We met at a café a while back."

"After that we started hanging out with each other a lot," the girl added.

"What a coincidence," said Nakamura. "Well, May-kun here is a big part of this, too. She's going to be in charge of finances, among other things."

"Oh, that's great!" cheered the girl. "May-chan, we should see each other again sometime soon. It's been great getting to know you!"

"Yes," May agreed, "we definitely should do it again. Though it looks like we're about to start soon. You and the others should probably go and finish up."

"Okay, bye then!" said the girl with a wave. Then she ran off to go do whatever it was she had to do.

"Wow," a woman's voice said. May looked over and saw Sasaki looking at the girl who May had just talked to, running to get ready. "Is that who I think it is? I didn't know she was going to be working with us."

"Yes," May said with a laugh, "that's her. Amane Misa."

* * *

_**Patience**_

"Lidner told me to come get you," I heard a voice say.

"Okay, I'm coming," I said. "Sorry, Birdie."

Yep, you heard right: Birdie. That sweet, innocent, adorable girl from earlier in my life was working on the Kira case, but she was no longer sweet or adorable. Half of the time she wasn't even innocent. I love Birdie, but facts must be faced: she's evil incarnate.

Birdie had been _extremely_ bored after Allison left, and endured about a year of boredom, until she couldn't take it anymore. Then she asked Roger if she could work on the Kira case. Roger wasn't too happy with the idea, but after Near had said yes (apparently he doesn't care _who_ joins the SPK) Roger had no choice but to let her go.

No one ever told her that I had been working with Near, since she could never keep a secret. Birdie's not too fond of Near, so for her to turn to _him_ for something to pass time, she must have been _extremely_ bored. When she found out that I was there, she had been delighted.

"Whatever," Birdie replied. "Let's go; McEnroe's about to talk to Takimura."

We walked out of the room that I had been in and walked into another one where the other members of the SPK were. The room was filled with bright screens; it was quite amazing. As if on cue, the moment we walked in, McEnroe, who we were listening to through a mic he was wearing, began speaking.

"My name is John McEnroe," he said in Japanese. "I'm an agent with the FBI. Of course this is just an alias, as my assignment involves Kira, it's a necessary precaution."

"Due to some unforeseen circumstances," said a man, "the director is unavailable. If it is acceptable, you can speak with me instead."

"Very well; that's fine," said McEnroe. "Pardon me; I'll get straight to the point. The Japanese police have proven themselves to be unreliable. So in order to solve the Kira case, we want you to hand the notebook over to us."

"So the FBI was behind it!" the man exclaimed. "Where did you take the director?"

"What are you talking about?" McEnroe said.

As the two continued to argue, one person asked, "What does this mean?"

I didn't hear him say that, though. The moment I heard the man ask about the director, I went numb. No one but Birdie seemed to notice how I was reacting to it. Well I'll tell you. My hands were sweating, and my legs suddenly felt weak. Birdie could tell what I was thinking, she was thinking it too, and I bet Near had realized it as well.

'_It's Mello_,' I thought. He was back.

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"So, what are you going to do?" Birdie asked me.

It was a day later. We were in my room, and I was pacing back and forth, as Birdie simply sat on my bed and watched me.

"I need to find him," I told her.

"But we don't even know if it's really Mello that we're dealing with," Birdie pointed out.

"I know," I said. "I'm going to find where they're keeping the director. If I can find that out, then I can go there and see if it's really Mello. I can't bother telling Allison though, I don't want to get her hopes up for nothing. If I go there and it ends up being him, then I'll tell her."

"And if it ends up not being them, you'll be at the mercy of a bunch of kidnappers. Sounds like a win-win situation to me," said Birdie in a sarcastic tone.

"Birdie, can you at least _try_ help me?" I said. One thing that hadn't changed about me over the years was that I still had no patience whatsoever. Oh, the irony.

"What do you want me to do?" she said, defending herself. "Do whatever you think will work."

Nice advice. I always _was_ terrible at making decisions.

"I have to," I told her. "I have to go; in case it might be him."

"Lovely. And by the way," said Birdie, with a devious grin on her face, "good luck trying to figure out where they're hiding at."

I sighed. This would be harder than I'd thought.

"Still," I said. "I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Well actually," Birdie began to say, but she was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone.

"It's Allison," I said, looking at the caller ID. "I'll put it on speaker. Hello?"

"Hiya Patience!" I heard Allison say. "Say hello," I heard her mumble to someone.

"Hello," it was Joy. The two lived near each other, which was odd, considering they didn't get along.

"We just wanted to wish you happy birthday!" Allison said.

Birdie gave me a look. Oh, so _that's_ what I'd been forgetting. I was eighteen now.

"Thanks guys," I said, pretending that I had already known.

"I'm here, too!" Birdie piped in.

"Birdie!" Allison exclaimed. "Alright?"

"Alright," Birdie replied. "Not much is going on, just engaged with the Kira case and whatnot. May still thinks I'm at Wammy's, though."

Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention that bit of information? Well, you see, Joy, Allison and Roger knew that Birdie was working on the Kira case, but May was still in the dark about that. Birdie knew May would freak out and make her go back to the orphanage, so it had been kept a secret from May. I still don't know why we all agreed to any of that.

"I had figured as much," Allison responded. "Good luck with the case."

"Why are you wishing they have off?" I heard Joy ask.

"Because it's nice," said Allison. "I know that you're not very familiar with that word, but _do you understaaaaaaaand?_"

"I know what you mean, you divvy," Joy said. "That's not the point. Why would you wish them luck with capturing Kira? Kira's made the world a better place; Kira is good."

"Of course, and Satan is simply misunderstood," Allison said in mock understanding.

"Beaut! Kira kills criminals," Joy argued. "They're all a lot of duffers; better off dead. Now less people are committing crimes."

"Oh really?" Allison retorted. "Well if Kira kills bad people, then why on earth are _you _still alive?"

The two then began to argue—again. They were really good when it came to yelling at each other.

"Allison," I said. "Joy." It was no use, they didn't hear me, so with a sigh, I hung up the phone.

"Patience," Birdie whined, "I was listening to that! And it was getting good, too."

I rolled my eyes. This was going to be a _lot _of work.


	5. Entertainment

"I told you so."

"I know."

"You should have listened."

"I know, Birdie."

"But no, you didn't. You didn't listen to my opinion because I'm just a kid. Do you think I got into Wammy's for nothing?"

"You got in for mathematical skills, not logic."

"Did you just call me daft?"

It was the next day. Birdie was rubbing in the fact that she was right and I was wrong. This was something she did whenever the opportunity presented itself. I'd realized it: I wouldn't be able to find Mello. It was _literally_ impossible; there was no way whatsoever. That wasn't going to stop me though.

"If it's Mello, he's bound to come get his picture back," I said. "I know that much."

"Most likely," Birdie said, "he would probably brag about how he got a Death Note to Near. It's _so_ inconsiderate, boasting like that."

"Yeah," I agreed, even though Birdie had been doing the exact same thing a few seconds ago.

If this was Mello we were dealing with, he'd definitely come to get back his picture. And if he did, then I'd tell Allison. But if he did come, then he'd find out I was working with Near. I doubted he'd be very welcoming if he found _that_ out.

We walked into the room where all of the SPK members were. Near and one of the others were in the middle of a discussion.

"Are you saying the one who killed Takimura was not the culprit, but rather, Kira?" an SPK member asked.

"Shit, Takimura's dead?" Birdie said, causing one or two members to stare at her.

"You would be aware of this, had you been paying attention, Birdie," Near said. "Anyway, I am merely saying that such a line of thinking is also possible. If that were so, it would mean that Kira had obtained the NPA's information."

Suddenly Mason's phone could be heard ringing. He picked it up, knowing exactly who it was.

"It's L," Mason said. "…The current one."

The phone was quickly set up so that we could all hear it. Birdie made sure she got a pair of headsets. She obviously had a hunch that the following conversation would be rather entertaining.

"I have heard the story from Director John McEnroe—no, Investigator Larry Connors regarding Deputy Director Yagami," said the voice. "Would you lend us your support in the investigation of the murder of Police Director Takimura?"

"Let us see," said Mason on the phone.

"Phone," Near demanded. He plugged some voice altering thing in. "L the second, it's nice to meet you." He was so casual saying it that it almost seemed shocking to _me_.

A maniacal grin was evident on both Near and Birdie's faces. I bet they both wished they could have seen that guy's face.

"Second?" the L imposter said. "What do you mean? Who are you?"

"There is no use hiding it," said Near. "We are a new organization that was created in order to capture Kira without relying on L, the SPK. Around nine members in our group know L's death. And I am the head of the SPK…let's see… I am N.

"We said that we would not depend on L, but in reality, the CIA and the FBI are already moving for us, with myself, not L, at the head. However the murder of the director of the NPA is a crime that is hard to forgive… Since I think that this incident may contain the possibility of the capture of Kira, we would like to fully cooperate with you."

There was silence for a moment.

"Is something wrong, L?"

"N-no," L replied. "To tell you the truth, after the director was murdered, Deputy Director Yagami's daughter was kidnapped by who is assumed to be the same suspects, and they have now demanded a trade in L.A."

I was taking this all in, making sure I remembered every word he said.

"Understood," Near said. "I will gather as many agents as possible in L.A. without giving them specific information of the incident, and monitor all of L.A. with satellite cameras… no… I will leave all of the commands to you, L."

Near tossed away the phone, as if it were trash, and his devious grin left with it.

"Thank God," Birdie whispered.

I gave her a questioning look, wondering what it was she meant.

"Every time Near smiles like that," she explained, "I die a bit inside."

"Near, is it okay to leave it all up to the fake L, who can't even purse Kira?" Rester pointed out.

"That's why it's okay," Near explained. "It means there's a gap that can be taken advantage of. Of course, human life is first priority. However, our goal as the SPK is ultimately… to get the notebook. To capture Kira. And… to tell you the truth, I think it's good for the notebook to pass from the hands of the NPA to others at least once."

"Bonehead," Birdie muttered.

"Patience," Near said, grabbing my attention, "even if it is Mello that we're dealing with, the odds are that you won't find him if you go to L.A. I recommend you stay here. Of course, whether you do or not is your decision."

"I understand," I said. "I'll stay." Near nodded, probably already having known how I was going to answer. Birdie was right, if this was Mello we were dealing with, he'd come here on his own… eventually.

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Birdie and I were staring at Near, watching him as he played with his dart board. Every now and then Birdie would make a loud noise so that Near might lose his concentration and miss, yet despite her efforts, Near always got his darts right on the mark.

Suddenly the sound of Mason's cell phone could be heard once again. "Right away," he said after he heard the man on the other end of the phone, putting it on speaker.

"N, I'm sure you're aware of the current situation," it was L. "The airline companies, the police and other forces haven't been mobilized yet. Can we count on you for that?"

"Understood… L," Near replied. "We'll estimate their landing position and set up satellite surveillance on the entire vicinity."

After a moment, L replied. "N, we've discovered who it was that boarded the plane with Deputy Director Yagami. His name is Zack Irius. Please look into him, as well as the pilots."

"All things considered, they got the name pretty quick," Rester said.

"A little too quick if you ask me," Birdie said, and I couldn't help but agree.

Eventually we got the landing location on the satellite. "L, we have the landing location on satellite surveillance," Near said. "We're transmitting to you all we see here."

"N, can we send a chopper?" L asked.

"Of course," Near said. "John McEnroe's a capable pilot and he's met Mr. Yagami before. We'll send him."

"Make arrangements," Mason ordered Gardner.

"Right away," Gardner replied, walking away with McEnroe to do so.

Deputy Director Yagami was talking on his phone, and suddenly a secret hatch opened up.

"An underground bunker!" Rester exclaimed.

"Things are getting interesting now," Near noted. "Do you have a plan, L? You wouldn't by any chance think it's okay for the notebook to fall into the hands of people we know nothing about, would you?"

"No, not at all," L replied. "There's absolutely no record about anything like that bunker being there… regardless, if the kidnappers want to take the notebook with them, there needs to be a way out. Our request is that you try and follow them closely by radar when they leave."

Eventually the helicopter arrived.

"Chopper's arrived at the rendezvous point," Rester confirmed.

"What's more, less than a mile away is another helicopter," Near noted. "Zoom in on the third frame."

"Doesn't look like anyone's on it," L said. "So that's the kidnapper's mean of escape. That's the one you can't lose sight of, N."

"He's bossy," Birdie mumbled.

After several minutes, Deputy Director Yagami and his daughter, Sayu, came out of the bunker.

"As soon as their safely aboard the helicopter," said L, "send a team of investigator over and—"

"—L, one of the kidnapper's came out wearing a mask," Mason said.

"So this means the exchange was one hundred percent successful, doesn't it?" Near said.

"We can't know what'll happen next," L said. "Keep the radar on both choppers. Follow the kidnapper's chopper all the way to the landing site if you can. We'll take them there. They might try to drop it somewhere or exchange it in mid-air, so keep the satellite camera on them at all times."

"You say that as if it were simple," Near said. "Understood. We'll do our best." He looked at the screen and a smirk appeared on his face.

"He's doing it again," Birdie whispered, hiding behind me for protection.

"Nope! It's over!" he declared. "Looks like you've been beaten, L."

"What is it? What happened?" L pressed.

"Jeeper's creepers! I hadn't noticed that," Birdie said, staring at the giant missile on the screen.

"How do you miss it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"At a spot about half a mile from both the entrance used by Mr. Yagami and the exit used by the kidnapper, a missile has come out and is prepared to launch," Near informed him, his devious grin still creeping out Birdie. "Of the type that can't be tracked by radar."

"N, are you telling the truth when you say the U.S. and the kidnappers are not working together?" L asked.

"Why, whatever do you mean, L?" Near said, twirling his hair.

"Seeing as they have a missile like that, it's what one would think," L explained. "It was the U.S. that first came to the N.P.A seeking the notebook it was purported to have. It wouldn't be going on a limb to assume that all that's happened up until now is a plot."

"To be perfectly frank with you, such a plot would have been welcome on our part," Near admitted. "But it's not the case. Oh, we're indeed after the notebook and Kira's identity, but we weren't involved in the kidnapping at all."

"Do you have the means to prove it?" L asked.

"God he's annoying," Birdie mumbled.

"Well, nothing short of capturing the kidnappers will serve as proof."

"L, N," Rester began, "it is in fact the type of missile that can't be tracked by radar. We have no way of following it or knowing where it will land."

"I guess it must have been programmed with specific coordinates," Gevanni said. "In the meantime there's not much more we can do than follow the chopper.

"There's little to no chance the book's in there but… actually, there's no chance at all, but—"

Gevanni never got to finish that sentence. Because right then the very helicopter we were tracking exploded. "Near, the chopper's been—"

"—So it would seem," Near replied calmly.


	6. Mello's Tactics

"L, flight SE333 here," we heard a voice on the other end say. "We've just arrived safely in the Los Angeles airport, but… the man who had gotten on the plane with the deputy director went into cardiac arrest and died around eight minutes ago. That was the diagnosis given by a physician on the plane. It seems the pilot lost consciousness the plane had come to a halt. He's probably dead, too."

"Is Deputy Director Yagami alright?" L asked after a moment.

"Yagami here," a voice—the same one we had heard earlier talking to McEnroe—said in Japanese, "I'm alive at the moment. But even if I weren't to die soon I fully intend to leave the N.P.A."

"What's that about, Yagami-jicho?" L asked, now speaking in Japanese as well.

"In exchange for my daughter's life I…" Yagami began, "the notebook, I… I'm no longer fit to be a law enforcement official."

It's really not like you to say such a thing, jicho-san," L noted. "What you're suggesting is no different from a detective whose gun is stolen and tries to close the book on the incident by handing over his resignation."

"L," Yagami said, "I understand your feelings on this, but… in this case I knew my 'gun' would be stolen, and I let it happen. What's more, I handed over a weapon far deadlier than your average gun. As a concerned citizen I'll continue to make every effort to cooperate with the police, but… I just can't remain with the N.P.A anymore."

"L, we'll be borrowing him for a bit, if you don't mind," Near said.

"What do you need him for exactly, N?" L asked.

"Oh, just a question or two," Near replied. "In consideration to you, we'll make it so you can hear the conversation as well. It might just give us enough to narrow down the list of potential suspects."

It was agreed; Near would question Deputy Director Yagami.

"Yagami-san, it appears your daughter neither saw the kidnappers' faces nor spoke to them much," Near said, now speaking in Japanese to adjust to the situation. "On the other hand, you were given a wireless earphone and received instructions from a man claiming to be the mastermind behind the kidnapping. Anything you remember about it will do. Please recall as much as you can.

"Even if I recall anything it won't do much good," Yagami confessed. "His voice was hidden, I couldn't even give you an estimate of his age."

"Finally! We got the missile!" Gevanni announced, gaining my full attention.

"Yagami-san, please give us a moment," Near said.

"Pieces of it are scattered about twelve miles off the New York coastline," Gevanni informed us. "I'm pretty sure it's our missile. I'm sending a team over to retrieve it."

"If we take into account the time of launch we can estimate it landed around two hours ago," Rester said.

"If the notebook were placed in a floating device that wouldn't break even as the missile crashed," Near noted, "there would be countless ways to retrieve it, you know: a boat, hovercraft, a helicopter equipped to land on water. Did you get all that, L?"

"Yes," L replied.

"English, Japanese, English, Japanese," Birdie whispered angrily, no longer concerned with Near, since he had stopped smiling. "Why can't they all just make up their minds?"

"There's little doubt that the notebook's in the criminals' hands now," Near said, his maniacal grin returning. "You let them take it from right from under your nose."

At this point Birdie had a death grip on my hand, trying to calm herself down. Apparently Near smiling _really_ freaked her out. Had Near known this, he probably would have smiled more often.

"N," L began, "would you have been able to keep them from the notebook if you'd been in command of the operation?"

"Oh, no," Near said, "up against those preparations no one would have been able to keep it from being stolen. Perhaps the only alternative would have been to sacrifice two innocent lives.

"However… as for me, I'm not at a complete loss as to the identity of the perpetrators," he glanced at me when he said that, "and I've devised a plan to get the notebook back."

"A plan to get it back?" L echoed.

"If we can get the identity of the criminals down, L," Near began. "As someone whose name alone is enough to mobilize police all over the world, it would suffice for you to give out the names and pictures of the criminals to coerce them into returning it.

"All that's needed is for a criminal's name and picture to be known for them to be killed by Kira. If they don't want that to happen, they'll hand over the notebook and that'll be that.

"I'm loath to resort to such unsavory means, but... and after they've turned it over, they'll be apprehended of course."

"I see," L replied.

"We'll count on you for that," Near said.

"But for that to work we'd have to learn the names and photos of everyone in the organization," L said. "Whoever they are, they're no small operation.

"If we only have the name and picture of some of them, the others will just kill them and get it over with. So it's critical we know them all. Does that seem feasible?"

"It's not whether it's feasible or not—it's what I'm doing," Near said. "Well then, I've kept you waiting a while Yagami-san. Has anything come to mind to you in the meantime?"

"I remember all I was told perfectly," Yagami said, "but as to anything that would serve as a lead… It's obvious the person was careful not to let anything slip."

"I don't mean anything like that," Near said. "Did his mood or surroundings give off anything? A sound, anything? Let's say, for example, did it sound as if he was eating something as he spoke."

"Eating something," Yagami echoed. "…He was eating something. I can't say it with absolute certainty, though."

"Like a candy bar or something?" Near suggested. "Would that fit the impression you received?"

"I… I can't be sure of anything so specific," Yagami admitted, "but, well, it was something like a crackling sound, perhaps."

"So he just might have been eating a candy bar as he spoke, right?" Near asked.

"Yeah," Yagami confirmed, causing Near to glance at me once again.

"Yeah, it's him," Birdie declared, not quite loud enough for L to hear. "Chocolate-eating sod."

"N," L said, "if you have an idea of who the kidnapper is, tell us and we'll cooperate in the investigation."

"I don't really feel like doing that, L," Near said. "We'll pursue the suspect by ourselves."

"Weren't we to cooperate on this investigation?" L argued.

"'Cooperation' went as far as the kidnapping incident," Near explained. "I believe I'd mentioned Kira and the notebook are another matter altogether. They took it from right under your nose.

"What I meant a little while ago is that we'd like for you to present the criminals names and photos to the police as L, but nothing more. Otherwise, your assistance is in no way required.

"The first L, he gave his life… and brought to light that the dreaded Kira operates from Japan, and the nature of the tool he uses to carry out the murder. While you, who've taken on his name, have managed, well, nothing.

"No, actually, now that I think about it, what you have managed is to increase the number of Kira out there. I can't really expect anything of you as far as dealing with the kidnappers is concerned, now can I? I believe I'm being as clear as possible here. The same goes for the Japanese police. The one who should now be in charge of it, Yagami-jicho, has declared that he's quitting and has gone back to Japan with his daughter. Honestly, most unreliable, the Japanese police. We'll be taking care of both Kira and the kidnappers by ourselves."

Suddenly there was a loud grunt, followed by a thump, and the sound of many dice hitting the ground.

"Mr. Director!" Rester cried.

"Yes!" Birdie shouted. "You finally dropped some! All it took to distract you was—" Birdie then turned her head, to see Mason lying face down on the cold floor. "—Jeeper's! All it took was a heart attack."

Almost immediately after Birdie said this, Ellickson Gardner dropped dead.

"Gardner!" Rester shouted.

"Stop dying, doggone it!" Birdie yelled,.

"Ratt!" Halle screamed, right before he shot himself in the head. That must have been one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen. I'll never be able to get that image out of my head, never forget all the death I saw that day.

My heart was beating rapidly. The only reason I knew that I wasn't having a heart attack was because no one knew my real name, except for—possibly—Jessica. How could they, if I didn't even know it?

And then the room was silent.

"N, what's wrong?" L asked, "What was that gunshot now?"

"We're beaten," Near replied.

Never before had I heard Near admit defeat. I felt goosebumps on my arms. Even Birdie was pale with shock, knowing that Near wouldn't say such a thing unless he was dead serious.

"Beaten?" L echoed.

"It's seems most people here… or rather, most of the members of the SPK, have been killed," Near admitted. "I'd had a feeling there was a spy among us, but… I'd say any chance of following their source back to them is gone, now."

"N, are you the only one left?" L asked.

"No, actually," Near confessed. "Most aspects of the operation are confidential, so there are a few people the criminals don't know of. I won't say how many are left here, but there aren't many. The first thing I was going to do was have them discover the spy and go on from that but… they got to us before we started."

"N," L said, "you may have been full of confidence a little while ago, but as far as Kira and the notebook are concerned… as to investigate the matter and apprehend the criminals.

"I'd say your own efforts have managed little more than getting innocent people killed while you're at it. And now, you've been left without much in the way of resources."

"Indeed," Near agreed. "L, from the moment the notebook was taken from you, I'd been preparing for it to some extent, but it's nonetheless, regrettable, really."

"There's little point to continue bickering now," L said. "I'm not suggesting you work under 'L' or that we have our investigative teams work together. I'm just saying we should tell each other what we know. The point is to get the notebook back and bring Kira to justice as soon as possible."

"What each of us knows?" Near echoed.

"You tell us about the criminals and the people you're keeping an eye on," L suggested. "We'll tell you what we know relating to the notebook. There are a good deal of rules and guidelines to follow when using the book. Upon learning them your investigation will surely advance in the right direction."

"Near," Rester said, recognizing the opportunity.

"L the second," said Near. "Understood, we'll share the information." Birdie's eyes widened at the statement, but I wasn't too surprised. "The person I believe is responsible goes by the alias, 'Mello'." He glanced at me. "I have no pictures, nor do I know his real name. All I know is that up until four years ago he was at an orphanage, Wammy's House, in Winchester, England."

L went over the rules of the notebook of death, Gevanni typing them all up, getting every single word. Then L and Near disconnected.

"Why did you do that?" Birdie exclaimed. "Now he's going to find out about us!"

"They are only likely to find out information on Mello, me, and possibly the other top ten intelligent children at Wammy's at that time," Near assured her.

"You don't have to worry about whether or not they will find anything out about you. And even if they did, they wouldn't be able to find out anything that would threaten your safety."

"Well they're going to find out about you," Birdie said. "Isn't _that_ a problem?"

"He knew they would find out about him," I explained, "but he figured the exchange would be worth it."

"I still think it's dimwitted," Birdie protested.

I was hardly concentrating on this any of this, though. Three people had just died! No… they'd been killed. '_Mello wouldn't do this._' I kept repeating those words to myself, over and over. But deep down inside, I knew it was him.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

All of the SPK members, or rather, what was left of them, were looking over the rules of the Death Note which L had given to Near.

"Commander Rester, get me L," Near ordered.

"Right away," Rester replied.

"Are you there L?" Near asked. "This is N speaking."

"Yes this is L," L confirmed. "What can I do for you, N?"

"Is this all you know about the notebook?" N questioned.

"Of course," L assured him.

"Well, this much won't tell me how you'd be able to write in people's names simply by looking at their picture," Near pointed out.

"We haven't quite figured that part out yet," L explained. "I might be going out on a limb here, but maybe the notebook Kira has and the one the kidnappers took are different; maybe Kira has a notebook that lets you kill just by looking at a person's face; or maybe he's not using a notebook at all."

"Is that so?" Near said. "It's true the kidnappers can't kill people with their face alone… among our survivors are people who surely had their picture taken by the spy."

I froze when I heard Near say that. I hadn't thought about that. Did this mean Mello knew I was working with Near? Then again, I kept my distance, even from the other SPK members. My head was always down, and I didn't look most people in the eyes. I couldn't even look Near in the eyes. So if a picture of me had been taken, Mello wouldn't necessarily recognize me.

"N, there's something I've been wondering on my part as well," L mentioned.

"And what might that be?" Near asked, already very aware of what L was going to ask.

"We've looked into Mello's background," he admitted, "and found that he was your rival, N, for the position of L's successor. N there's no doubt about it… you're 'Near' aren't you?"

Birdie's eyes widened when she heard Near's answer, "Yup! I'm Near!" he replied, extremely casually, with a goofy grin on his face. I could tell Birdie wanted to strangle him. Though of course Birdie wouldn't have known how he would answer, she hardly knew Near. The only thing she was sure of was that she hated him.

"So I can assume Mello's fighting you over L's legacy," L guessed, "and so he's taking any means necessary to catch Kira."

I felt a shiver run down my spine when I heard L say this. Mello would do anything to catch Kira, I now knew that for sure.

"However, no matter how much he's disregarding the means to his end, there's one thing I don't understand: why kill the members of the SPK? Wouldn't that make him no different than the killer he's after? Just what is his reasoning?"

I winced as Near answered, knowing that everything he said was true. "He became a murderer the moment he killed the pilot, the man who got on the plane with Mr. Yagami, and the man who picked up the notebook. That being the case, I'd have to get to Mello to capture the notebook myself. But to Mello, that would mean 'defeat'."

"So why would he kill members of the SPK and not Deputy Director Yagami and his daughter, who've had actual contact with him?" L asked.

"Well, for one thing," Near explained, 'he's under the impression, as I am, that your investigative team in Japan is not even competent. So he's left them alive so he can keep coercing info from Mr. Yagami by threatening his daughter's life.

"Unlike the spy, Mr. Yagami's a one-way source of information for him; he doesn't need to worry about him leaking anything to anyone. And he also wanted him alive to let us all know a thing or two."

"Such as?" L inquired.

"For instance, he let Mr. Yagami hear him speak while eating a chocolate bar. This was done for me to know that it was he who was taking the notebook."

"On purpose?" L questioned.

"He was taunting me, so to speak, he's boasting about having gotten to the notebook first. To Mello, it's like playing a video game against me, I think. 'See who gets to Kira—the last boss—first'." It was these words that stung the most to hear.

"But all I've been going on about is—how should I put it- the best case scenario. It's quite possible Mello wants to change the world to his liking, just like Kira. He was always obsessed with being number one, Mello." Now _that_ made my blood boil.

"So what you're saying," L observed, "is that to him, Kira, you, and 'L', all stand in his way."

"As far as Mello's reasoning goes, that's about as much as I'm able to speculate. Now that he's committed murder I can't really expect him to use the notebook to help me find Kira, now can I?

"Nonetheless, the string of murders attributed to Mello's group makes it easier for us to narrow down their whereabouts."

"And your take on Mello's next move?" L asked.

"Reckoning that, too, is difficult, but Mello is not likely to stop at anything to get what he wants. Though I do have an idea as to where he and his men might be hiding. You can leave that to me, L."

"Very well," L said, disconnecting.

Each SPK member went back to their work. Except for me, that is.

"Near," I said.

"What is it?" he asked.

For the first time in my life, I looked him straight in the eyes. Full of confidence, I said, "You're wrong." Near's eyes widened somewhat, as did Birdie's, and the other SPK members. "Mello _won't _use the notebook to change the world to his liking. I know that much for sure."

Near was silent for a moment, and then, going back to his toys, replied, "Very well."


	7. God's Wrath

**_May_**

The photo shoot May had been working at was for a new movie Misa was going to star in. The movie would be shot in Hollywood, so Misa would have to go to America. May was going to be working with Misa during the filming process as well. Misa was fine with that, though, since she and May had been friends for months.

"I'm going to Hollywood already?" May said, eyes wide in surprise. "I understand why you're going, but why me? I don't have to go for a while."

"It'll be fun, May-chan!" Misa assured her. Misa had invited May to come with her to Hollywood, the next day, and the two were currently talking about it over the phone. "My boyfriend's going to be really busy with his work, so I'll need someone to spend time with."

"What work does your boyfriend have to do in L.A.?" May wondered.

"Oh, umm… it doesn't matter," Misa said, trying not to reveal that her boyfriend was the famous detective, L. "But that's not the point, the point is I want you to come with me! He said that you could come with us, you'd just have to stay in a different room."

"Well, I'd love to go Misa-chan, but I have so much work, with planning the wedding and such," May explained.

"I can help you!" Misa insisted. "We can do some planning in L.A.! I'm plenty capable of it! Amane Misa, wedding planner extraordinaire!"

"Well, Eli is pretty busy," May noted, "I guess it couldn't hurt if I went with—"

"—Yay!" Misa cheered.

"Will I get to meet your boyfriend?" May asked with a grin. She'd never met Misa's boyfriend in person, in fact, she wasn't even sure if Misa had ever mentioned his name.

"Umm… no," Misa said. "Probably not. You'll have to go on a different plane. Plus he's going to be really busy."

"A different plane?" May asked. "Why?"

"Umm… the plane we're going on is full," Misa explained. "Don't worry, there are other planes. I'll give you your ticket and information. We'll meet when we get to L.A. at the hotel, okay?"

"Fine," May sighed. "Amane Misa-chan, you sure know how to put up an argument."

"Yup," said Misa, with a laugh, "I'm one stubborn girl!"

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

It was six days later; May was in her hotel room, which was down the hall from Misa's. It turned out that Misa's boyfriend would be staying at a different hotel, yet he still insisted May should have her own room.

"He seems like a nice man," May said to herself.

She sighed, she'd talked to her old roommates from Wammy's a couple of days ago, telling them about the strange hijacking that happened while she was on her plane to L.A. Birdie, on the other hand, hadn't been picking up her cell phone. Birdie had been acting strange lately, or at least it seemed that way to May. It worried her.

Bored to death, she put on some nice clothes, and grabbed her purse and cell phone. She always put her cell phone in her pocket.

She walked down the hallway, to Misa's room. She'd suggest the two of them go out and have some fun. She had her cell phone in her hand, planning to call Misa right outside her door, since Misa always did that to her. It was extremely annoying. May loved her anyway.

Outside of Misa's door, she dropped her phone, and bent down to pick it up. She could hear someone talking to Misa, but she didn't take much notice of it, it was probably Misa's boyfriend. Maybe now May would finally get to meet him.

"Well no matter how you look at it," May heard a man's voice say, "it's not Mello." May froze, and her eyes widened. "In four years, he couldn't change _that_ much."

'_Mello?_' she thought. She listened intently to what they said to each other.

"But I'm pretty sure this guy's close to Mello," the man said.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Misa asked. "Didn't you say the owner was Mello?"

"I gave up ownership of the book, and Father relinquished it to the criminals. In other words, the man whom Father gave it to became the owner. But he was killed when the helicopter exploded; so then, ownership would pass on to those who picked it up from the wreckage.

"Suppose they are eventually eliminated, and so forth. The book would continue to change owners until it was someone in Mello's circle. For that reason, we can assume this man has used the book, or he's at least kept it safe for the one who's using it.

"Plus, the mere fact that he's still alive must mean that he's close to the ringleader—Mello. All couriers have been killed without hesitation, after all.

"The pictures I gave you, Misa, are from an FBI database on people involved in organized crime. If we find this guy, we're sure to find the notebook."

'_What is he talking about?_' May wondered. '_No, it don't matter, if this is our Mello, then I need to keep listening._'

"Misa," the man said, "thank you. In your eyes lies the hope for our New World."

"Oh, Light!" she said.

"Great!" the man, Light, said. "First I need to learn all the mafias this guy works for. I'll go back to headquarters and investigate."

"Eh?" Misa exclaimed.

May, hearing footsteps, jumped out of the way, and stood next to another room, a couple of doors down, with her cell phone to her ear, pretending she had heard nothing.

Light stepped out of the room, and glanced at her for a second, pondering if she was significant or not. He then walked away in a different direction.

Although she doubted she'd find out anything more than what she had heard, she put her ear to the door of Misa's room.

"Stop laughing Ryuk!" she heard, even though the room was completely silent. "You can be really mean, you know that?"

Silence.

"No, I'm sure Light will succeed in the end. He promised me, he and I will be the god and goddess of the New World. Isn't that _romantic?_"

Silence was her response.

"Wow, I've got it made. I'm famous, have the best boyfriend in the world, and on top of that, he's Kira!"

May's eyes widened. She doubted it at first, it was probably Misa just being her normal, odd self. But she was a Kira supporter[?]. Not to mention she and Light had been talking about Mello, who was most likely involved in his own investigation on the Kira case at that very moment.

May was angry, upset and confused. Mostly upset. Had her best friend turned out not to be who she'd thought she was? Still, she forced herself to keep listening, in hope that Misa would reveal more.

"What do you mean, 'What am I doing'?" Misa asked the so called, 'Ryuk'. "I'm calling someone, what else would I be doing. Jeez Ryuk, you can be really—Ooh! Wait, it's dialling."

And at that moment, the worst thing possible happened:

May's phone went off.

She went stiff, feeling like she couldn't move. May quickly grabbed her phone, and denied the call, doubting that it would do much to help.

She ran to the elevator, frantically pushing the button. She felt like she was in a horror movie, trying to outrun the killer. Misa… she was the killer.

Her eyes stinging with tears, she gave up on her futile attempt to get the elevator door to open, and took an alternate route.

She tore down the stairs, going as fast as she could, not sure if she could even outrun her oncoming death. She grabbed her phone and dialled a number.

* * *

**_Patience_**

Birdie had decided to stay late, and I had to stay and make sure she didn't cause any trouble.

She'd been wandering around the building, and I lost track of her, so I just went to the room Near was usually in, not wanting to be alone on a dark and rainy night.

I actually had no clue that May was even in America. I thought she was back in the Kanto region of Japan.

I heard my cell phone go off, and received a glance from Near.

"Sorry," I said, "I thought I had turned it off."

"Who is it?" he asked.

I looked at the caller I.D., and answered, "May."

"You may speak with her," he said.

"Hello?" I said, picking up the phone, wondering why Near was looking at me as I spoke.

"Patience!" May cried. "Thank God! Patience, this is going to sound odd, but I know who Kira is."

My eyes widened.

"Hold on," I said, turning to Near. "She says she knows who Kira is!"

Near's eyes widened; even _he_ couldn't have seen _that_ coming. "Put her on speaker," he demanded; I did as he said.

"I heard them talking," May explained, not bothering to mention who, "they were talking about Mello, a-and a notebook. I-I heard her say who Kira is."

"May, Near's here, too. What happened? Are you alright?"

"Who is 'she'?" Near asked. "And who is Kira?"

I glanced at Near, who was fully alert, staring intently at the phone in my hand.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but from what I over—" then there was a pause, followed by a crash. "…this isn't," I heard May whisper.

It was silent for a moment, and then I heard a creek.

"Are you sure it came from in here?" a woman's voice asked.

"Yeah, I think so," a man's voice replied.

"Oh my God!" I heard the woman cry, followed by the sound of someone running. "Is she okay?"

There was a pause, followed by an answer, "I think… I think she's dead."

"Get an ambulance, just in case," said another voice, this one with an obvious Japanese accent. "Both of you. I'll watch over her."

I heard footsteps, and then silence. The person kneeled down next to May's lifeless body. I heard a sigh, followed by, "May."

I couldn't hear very well, since it was over the phone, so I couldn't tell what the sigh was for, or how they felt. Perhaps it was sorrow, frustration—or maybe even joy.

The phone was evidently discovered, and whoever was there hung up on me.

May, she was so sweet, so kind. Even though I didn't want to, I'd gotten close to her. And now she was gone.

'_Why does this always happen?_' I asked myself. Why did I always end up being left alone? Was there some god out there who hated me? Who wanted to make me miserable, and take away everything that I loved?

"Patience, are you okay?" a voice asked. I turned to see Birdie at the doorway.

"Birdie," I said. "May is… she's gone."

"What?" Birdie asked going pale. "What do you mean, Patience?"

But I couldn't answer, I was too busy trying not to slip up and burst into tears.

"May died," Near said. "No, she was killed, by Kira."

"You're wrong!" Birdie yelled. "I _hate_ you, Near! She's not… May's not…"

I walked up to Birdie, and held her hand. She grabbed me into a hug and burst into tears. I'd never seen Birdie like this, not once in my life. May was dead, and now Birdie was lost.

"May!" she screamed. "_May!_"

And we just stayed there like that. I don't know how long we stood there. It might have been hours, or only a few minutes. But it felt like an eternity.


	8. It's Every Man for Himself

After Birdie stopped crying, she talked to me. Of course she was going to pretend she'd never cried, and Near and I would have to go along with it. Because God forbid, if Near ever mentioned that, there'd probably be _another _murder to solve. Guess who the main suspect would be.

Anyway, we talked. She never cared about Kira before. She didn't care if he was good or evil, or if people obeyed him. She had just joined the SPK because she wanted to do something fun. But now, now she knew what she thought of Kira. She hated Kira, with every fiber of her being. And she would make sure he died. She still didn't care about the countless people Kira had killed beforehand, and she never would. The only reason she wanted Kira to die, was because he'd killed May. And May was someone Birdie cared about. If you messed with May, you messed with Birdie. And if you messed with Birdie, _bad _things would happen.

I was listening to the sound of all the news broadcasters, speaking of the President's death.

"It's definitely a murder by the notebook," Rester said. "Since the enemy needs to see the faces of their victims to murder them, they took off the soldiers helmets."

"I wonder why they didn't cut off their heads," Near questioned, "if they could cut away the belts so cleanly. It's an action of no use."

Birdie smiled. I think she liked that idea. For once she finally liked one of Near's suggestions. Not that she'd admit it.

"Anyway, it's doubtless that Mello and his men were there, and they killed the army squad," said Rester. "The problem is who knew the place and set the squad in motion."

"Now that the president and all of the squad members are dead and…" Lidner trailed off.

"Near, what do you think?" Rester asked.

"I don't know what to say," Near replied. "Now, I think it's best to observe closely."

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"Because in the end, the agent ended up helping Kira, Kira must have had a way of knowing him, but I don't know. Also, Mello ran away. And the notebook is back…" I had lost count by then. Near had called L. _Again_. Now he was pretty much listing all of the things L had already told him.

Chief Yagami was dead now. Another death. Mello had gotten away. And for some reason, I couldn't help but be somewhat relieved. But… Mello had killed…

"Yes!" L exclaimed. "Stop being stubborn. No matter how many times you ask me it's the same; I said all I can say."

They disconnected. Again. Near went back to his toys. Again. And Birdie sighed in frustration. Again. It was basically routine now.

"Near," said Rester, "it's about time you tell us what you think about the case."

"The second L is playing with me," Near answered, "and Kira is moving too much. The second L knew the mafia members would die on the tenth of November. L knows because Kira told him. He's been playing with us. They won't tell me the reason why they believed Kira, but everyone could've helped in that agreement to help. Kira knew that the police had his note and wasn't guessing with them. Particularly from killing the mafia and being able to place his note and pass it off like that. He bet his power to get the notebook back. Then he gets the notebook back."

"I think we can skip some of that," said Lidner, wanting to get to the point.

"I won't skip!" Near said. "Why did the Japanese police headquarters look at that exchange with Kira as okay? They at least got back one book and I would think that's okay. But getting the note back for the killer is more important? He handed it over too easily and he could've just made many different idle threats. On top of that there are all these rules with the notebook. And him having the interest to kill someone that, someone other than him has the evidence for, is very odd." By now Birdie had pulled out a sketchbook and started drawing, obviously getting bored with Near. "To add, from the time of not knowing about the seizure of Higuchi's note to knowing right before the mafia had it that the police had it, is weird. Why did he ignore that? If he knew after the police had it why does he worry about it now? Someone other than Kira knows of the existence of the notebook, and those are the ones he looks for. Countries and leaders are in a panic, and they probably aren't allowing public access, either. Kira's killing method is mostly from rumors and conjectures. Without actual proof, no one will believe in the existence of the notebook. But the thing he hated before was probably everyone not believing in the existence of the notebook."

"But, why NPA Headquarters?" Rester asked.

"Back when I thought it was weird, but this time the circumstances seem too much like Kira and the NPA headquarters are thinking together. As unlikely as it seems… Kira and the NPA headquarters are working together."

"Working together?" Lidner echoed.

"Yes working together!" Birdie shouted, annoyed about Near talking so much. She hated the sound of his voice, she'd once told me. "Are you hard of hearing or something? God!"

"No, if Kira is in the NPA headquarters… then Kira is the second L."

"It- it couldn't be," Rester said. "Are you saying this for real?"

"Yes, I am saying this for real, but—"

"—About a seven percent chance." Birdie said just as Near said "about seven percent."

The others stared at Birdie for a moment, shocked (except for Near, of course).

"What? You think I got into Wammy's for nothing?" Birdie said, offended.

"Seven percent?" Rester echoed. "Then you're saying the possibility is very low?"

"No, he's saying it's high," Birdie said sarcastically. "Because we all know that seven is such a _big_ number!"

"But this consistency matches," Near said, "the problem is, how to bury the remaining ninety-three percent. If we stay quiet and watch Kira's movements, the second L's mistake will disappear. Luckily, Mello got away," he spared a small glance at me, "so the remaining ninety-three percent isn't that hard. From the beginning, I thought something was wrong with the second L. For a person with that sort of investigative ability, don't you think it's weird that the investigator is taking a passive role? That's because if people around you noticed something, it would put you in a bad position."

"But we can't immediately trust that one hundred percent," said Lidner.

"Near, don't you think you've given too much of your own opinion?" Rester pointed out.

"Rester," said Near, "people in supervising positions in investigations are supposed to give too much of their own opinion, and if they're wrong, saying 'sorry' should be enough. So put my opinion out there and be thorough in checking NPA headquarters."

Birdie snorted, then mumbled something that sounded a lot like "You got dissed," causing me to sigh.

And it was around that time that the U.S. President announced on live television that America wouldn't be defying Kira.

"Coward," Birdie said. "He's just afraid of dying."

"And you're not?" Lidner said, looking Birdie up and down, showing that she was clearly just a kid.

"I never die," Birdie said in a dark tone, causing me to, once again, sigh. "God I hate America. They're all a bunch of yanks." It was about then Birdie realized everyone in the room except for her and Near were Americans. "Oh, but not you. You lot are _great_."

And another sigh.

"I wonder what will happen to us," Lidner said, getting back on topic.

"We will be removed," Near said, standing up, "and because of that chicken-shit president, no far worse than that, less than chicken-shit president."

"Does it really matter what kind of shit he is?" Birdie asked.

'_Yup,_' I thought. '_We're doomed._'

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"Near, is this 'lack of a solution' true?" Lidner wondered.

"Yes," Near replied, "justice in this country has fallen." Rester simply stared at Near in silence. "I'm not joking. I think this lack of a solution is one of the means. Of course, I'm going to narrow down L and Kira with the information the FBI gathered in the Japan HQ investigation five years ago. But it will be hard because now we can't get any cooperation from the Japanese or the U.S. Police Force. There are six of us including myself. I have no doubt that the others have gotten their faces along with their names, known to Mello through his spies, and were then killed."

"What are you saying now?" Rester asked.

"Pretend you're Mello—"

"—Eww, why would I want to be Mello?" Birdie said, wanting to bother Near.

"… are you going to kill all the SPK members whose faces and names are known to you through your spies? Particularly, if you know someone here will be of use to you, are you going to kill all of them?"

"No," Rester answered. "If I were him, I'd let one or two… well, at least one of them live."

"That's correct," Near said.

"Then why are so many of us still alive?" Lidner asked. "Six isn't a big number, but it's bigger than most people would have chosen."

"I already told you lady, I never die," Birdie explained, as if it made everything clear. Lidner glared at her. Birdie wasn't ever very serious.

"Mello wants to beat me," Near said. "It wouldn't be much of a victory if I was dead. Not to mention he doesn't know my name. As for Patience and Birdie, he couldn't find out their names either, unless he had the powers of the second Kira. Not even Patience and Birdie know their real names. He left you three alive because he needed other SPK members. I suppose he didn't think Patience or Birdie would be useful."

Birdie looked offended for a moment. Then she glanced at me, sitting down, staring at my feet, as usual, and somehow knew exactly what I wanted to ask. The thing is: I was too scared to ask it.

"Patience wants to know if Mello knows she's here," Birdie asked, causing the other SPK members to glance at me. Sometimes I felt invisible, like they didn't even notice I was there. I'm not complaining, though. I preferred it that way.

"It's highly likely that he does," Near replied, "since pictures were taken of all of the SPK members. Unless he doesn't recognize you, he'll know you're here." I noticed Lidner was looking at me, more intrigued than anyone else. She looked surprised that I knew Mello. But then, I didn't know she knew him, either. Not then, at least.

"Are you going to let the SPK split up on purpose and wait until Mello gets in touch with some of us?" Rester asked.

"That's not a bad idea," Near admitted. "We have some advantages… it would be easy to have the vice-president formally announce the disbandment of the SPK. Mello is alone. Right now he is not with any comrades. But I don't think he'll give up on wanting to be number one. If he wants to kill Kira before me, he'll definitely want the information we have."

"But considering what Mello has done up until now, there's no telling what he'll do if we get in touch with him," Rester pointed out. "Isn't it too dangerous?"

"Indeed, it is rather dangerous. So in that case, let's obey Mello's every whim."

"Obey his every whim?" Rester echoed.

"I'm not sure what 'whim' means," Birdie said, "but it doesn't sound good, what with the whole 'obey' part."

"I'm going to give him all of the information we have," Near explained. "Especially since the second L has the possibility of being Kira, and that I have Mello's photo."

"I called that!" Birdie said, referring to the conversation she and I had had earlier about how to find Mello. I had called it actually. Not that I was going to point it out.

"Then let's see how Mello moves," Near said, once again, ignoring Birdie.

"Anyone who's going to join in on this plan should wear bugging devices, and also come and go between his house and here every day. In addition, I'll have monitoring cameras put up in this room."

"Y-you're telling us to obey every whim of Mello's," said Rester, causing Birdie to get up and walk away so she could grab a dictionary and look up with word 'whim', "but isn't he going to kill us after he gets the information, thinking the contact might be known to you?"

"The possibility of that is high," Near admitted, "but I don't think you've been so highly thought of without merit.

"If you are horrified by this plan, you don't have to go through with it, just don't go outside," Near said. "I'm not going outside because I'm scared."

The SPK members all stared at him, along with Birdie, whose eyes were practically bulging out of her head. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, but in interest.

"How about the rest of you—in particular, you, Halle Lidner?" Near asked.

"Yes?" she said.

"Quite honestly, the information about us except for Rester, Patience, Birdie and myself must have been leaked out. However, Mello left without killing us all. If I were him I would choose the female, Lidner, and approach her to get information. When it would come to a confrontation, he would have more of a physical advantage over a female if she tried to struggle or run away. Also, he may think that the SPK won't use any bugging devices or cameras on a woman due to her own privacy." That was when I heard Birdie mumble a comment directed to Near, which sounded vaguely similar to 'pervert'.

"S-So you're saying Mello will contact me, right?" Lidner asked.

"No, the chance of that is about four to six percent," Near specified, at the same time Birdie said, "Maybe a four to six percent chance."  
"Actually, the possibility of contact is as follows," he paused for a moment, waiting to see if Birdie would interrupt.

"All yours," she said.

"Lidner, seven percent, Gevanni, two point five percent, Rester, point five percent, Birdie, point one percent,"

"Hey, why did you give me such a low number?" Birdie asked. "I would've at least said point five."

"If Mello knows it is you, Birdie, then he'll be aware that you aren't exactly 'cooperative'." Birdie shrugged, admitting that she was, indeed, uncooperative. If you put a gun to her head and told her to do something she'd tell you to… well, I'd rather not use that kind of language. "Patience, if he doesn't know it's you, which in itself is a very small chance, then a point six percent chance. If he does know it's you… then I can't say for sure what he'll do."

Each of the SPK members and Birdie stared at me, all of them (except Birdie) wondering just what it is I had to do with Mello.

"I-I will do it," Gevanni managed to say, once all of their gazes shifted back to Near.

"I see," Lidner said, "I'm in too."

"Yet," Lidner said, "who will believe that L is Kira, which was said when Kira first appeared?"

"No, he will believe it," Near said, and I knew he would, too. "Those who know the true L is dead will believe that. Also, Commander Rester, we are now an informal organization. Please gather those who refuse to follow Kira and who have some integrity. Any ordinary person will do. You can hand down as much money as you need from what L handed down to me."

"It's hard to find out if a normal person is responsible or not," Rester pointed out, "and we don't have much time."

"You don't need to care about responsibility," Near assured him. "We have to be a shady group in order to kill Kira. You only need people who acknowledge such an organization and will go to such a place and obey the boss there whose face and voice are unknown. The more, the better. We'll have battles such as these from now on. Just tell me if you want to drop out. Do it now, though."

"Wow, Allison was right," Birdie said to herself. "She always told me I was going to grow up to work with an illegal organization or something."


	9. And So it Begins

We were in HQ; not much was going on. Near was playing with his toys while to rest of us were working. Suddenly we all stopped when Rester shouted, "Near!"

We turned to look at the screen, and lo and behold, there was Mello, with a gun pointed at the back of Lidner's head.

"Oh, things are getting _interesting_ now," Birdie said.

"Wh-What's going on?" Rester asked. "Indeed, in a way, this is what we expected, but—"

"—Let him in," Near said, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. I walked over to the side of the room, near one of the computers, and sat down, so my face couldn't be seen. I have no clue what I thought this would do, but I was simply acting on the spur of the moment.

"Welcome Mello," Near said, and I knew that Mello had entered. I imagined the sneer on Mello's face as a response to Near's usual calm exterior, even in such a dire situation.

"Throw away your gun," Rester said, no doubt pointing his own at Mello.

"Lower your guns, all of you," Near ordered, "not only Mello. It's useless to shed blood here."

"B-But Mello killed our fellow," Gevanni began, "and he murdered the director of the NPA."

"We don't have any proof of either," Near stated. "Murder of the director is supposed to have been done by Kira. Well, it doesn't matter at all. Don't make me repeat myself. Our goal is to arrest Kira. Killing Mello now is of no use to us. We should raise our hats to him for the fact that he once… owned the notebook once and also closed so much on Kira. Pointing him a gun is as rude as can be."

"Understood," Rester replied after a moment.

"Near, you say clever things," Mello said. "This is just as you intended thus far, isn't it?"

"Yes, I didn't expect to come this far," Near admitted, "but with your help, I could narrow down on Kira so much."

I knew Near had just struck a nerve.

"Near," Mello said, and I heard a swoosh, "I'm not your tool to solve a puzzle."

"Don't make me repeat the same thing so many times," Near said. "Lower your guns. Mello, you can shoot me if you want."

I heard Birdie giggle, and I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Mello, who was contemplating if he should shoot Near… and possibly Birdie. Then Lidner grabbed Mello's gun.

"Mello," she said, "if you kill Near now and then catch Kira in the future, it will mean nothing." We all knew she was right. "If you shoot Near, we'll even shoot at you. If the both of you die now, it will lead nowhere; only Kira will be glad."

And Birdie, most likely, but I didn't bother adding that. That was the _last _thing I'd say at a time like that.

"That's right Near," Mello said. "I just came here to get back the photo of mine you have now."

"Yes," Near said. "I have only one photo of you and have never made any copies. Also, I haven't let this been taken by any monitoring cameras here. Adding to that, I have dealt with all people who knew your face at The Wammy's House. I can't give you one hundred percent assurance, but there will be no possibility that you will be killed by the notebook."

"Near, I have no intention of cooperating with you," Mello said, stating the obvious.

"I know that," Near said.

"But I feel vexed if I'm given the photo back to me and leave here," Mello said, surprising everyone. "Let me tell you something, the murderer's notebook, it's a notebook of Shinigami, a God of Death. If you have the book, you can see the God of Death."

"N-Nonsense," Rester said.

"Who believes in such a thing as a God of Death?" Gevanni added.

"It's a notebook that kills people for crying out loud!" Birdie shouted. "Are you _really_ that surprised?"

"I believe him," Near said, shocking the other SPK members. "What good is it for Mello to lie about a Shinigami's existence? If he had to tell a lie, he would make up a much better one, therefore, he's telling the truth, and Shinigami exist."

"The notebook I had belonged to a Shinigami named Sidoh. He dropped it in the human world and came down to get it back, but the book was once owned by another Shinigami."

"That's just queer as a clockwork orange," Birdie said, and I could tell she was getting on Mello's nerves, as was most likely her intention.

"That's because the rules to let humans use the notebook was written on the notebook. If he wanted to get back the notebook, it's strange that the rules for humans to use it were written down."

"I'll tell you another," Mello said. "Among the rules written on it were some fake rules. That's all I can tell you."

"Near." "Mello." They said each other's names at the same time.

"Which of us will get to Kira first…" Mello began, "is a race," Near finished for him.

"Our goal is the same," Mello said. "I'm waiting for you there."

I could practically sense the grin each of them had. Not that they would ever admit it, but I think they truly were friends, in some kind of twisted way.

Then I hear footsteps. Mello had left. I turned around, ready to run out after him. Once again, I had absolutely no plan. I usually thought things through, but now, I didn't have any time for that.

"Patience," Near said, sensing what I was about to do. "You won't accomplish anything by running after him."

"I know," I told him. That was all I said, because I knew he knew what I meant.

"Birdie," I said, looking at the girl who was still grinning. "How could you laugh?"

"What?" she said. "We all knew he wasn't really going to shoot Near."

"If you had said _that_," I pointed out. "Near and you might be dead, Birdie."

She chuckled, and I raised my eyebrow, wondering what could possibly be funny about that, besides the fact that Near would be dead, which she would no doubt find amusing.

"Dead birdy," she explained, causing me to grasp her twisted sense of humor.

"Call Allison," I instructed her, "tell her we found him." I knew Near wouldn't care about that in the least. He always knew I would inform Allison if I ever actually found Mello.

"But I lost my cell phone," Birdie explained.

"Then use mine," I said, handing her my cell phone, which I hardly ever used.

"Eww, a _RAZR_?" she said. "Really, couldn't afford anything better, Patience?"

I sighed, growing inpatient, and whispered "patience" to myself, for what was probably the millionth time. "Just call her."

She shrugged, and said, "You do realize he just might shoot you."

"I know," I said, and ran off.

"Should I adjust the cameras?" I heard Rester ask. "We won't be able to see them with the cameras current position."

"No," Near said. "There's no need for that."

'_Thank you Near_,' I thought. '_For everything._'


	10. And How Have YOU Been?

**_Allison_**

"How long has it been, now?" I asked.

"Fifty minutes," Story said.

"And _no one _can calm her down?" I said. "Not Mister Ruvie or _any_ of the adults?"

"They've already tried, but she still won't stop screaming," Story said, beginning to complain. Story isn't one who complains very often or very easily, so the fact that she was meant that all hell was about to break loose… or it already _had_.

"What about that wrestler kid?" I suggested. "You said he was sixteen, he should be able to calm her down… well, he should be able to_ hold _her down."

"David already dried holding her down, about five minute ago when we were extremely desperate. She still wouldn't stop screaming," Story explained.

"Story, what do you want _me _to do?" I asked. "I'm about a two hour drive away. Not to mention, kids hate me."

"That's not true," Story said.

"Okay, well then, I hate kids. The screaming ones at least."

"Please Allison, do something!" she begged. "Couldn't ye come over?"

"No!" I told her. "It's your own fault, too. This is what happens when you allow a seven year old with A.D.H.D. named _Sugar to _have _five _candy bars!"

"I knows, but she was begging me, and you know I can't say no to her!"

I sighed. "What are Harrowing and your other roommate doing?"

"Amber ran out of the room dhen minutes ago, tamping and screaming that she couldn't take it anymore. Harrowing is sitting on her bed drawing," Story said.

"How can she concentrate with all of that screaming?" I wondered.

"I don't know.  
"I'm sorry, Harrowing," Story said, being her usual, extremely kind and polite self. "What could you _possibly _be drawing at a time like this?"

"What did she do?" I asked.

"She held up her drawing," Story explained. "It's of Sugar… with her mouth sewn shut."

"That girl worries me," I said. "Creepiest fifteen year old _ever_."

"Allison, isn't there something ye can do?" Story asked.

"No Story, there's nothing I can do," I told her for the hundredth time. "I'm watching a horror movie, and my friend Jacob and I made a deal. If I can figure out who will be the last person to survive by the end of the film, then I get sixteen quid, which I need for a new book."

"But you hates reading!" Story pointed out.

"Okay, so I lied," I said. "I'm not getting any money, but I'm getting brassed off!"

"Please help!" she begged.

"Listen Story, I've had a rough day, and I just want to relax. The next time something bad happens, I'll help you; I swear on the _Bible_."

"But I'm Jewish!" Story pointed out.

"Then I swear on the Torah, or the Tanakh, or whatever the hell it is you read! Listen, I love you, but go bother Lacey or summat! You have her number!"

"But Allison!" she pleaded.

"Goodbye!" I said in a sing-song voice, hanging up before she could say anything else.

I sighed, and pressed play, sitting back and watching my movie.

"Don't open the door," I said to the woman on the T.V. "Don't open the door. Don't open the—ooooh! I told you not to open the door!"

Then my phone rang once again. I didn't bother looking at the caller I.D. I just picked it up and said, "Someone ought to be dying!"

"Actually, Kira just killed Patience," it was Birdie's voice.

"What?" I shouted, dropping my remote.

"Okay, that was a lie, but you practically asked for it," Birdie explained.

I groaned, muttered one or curse words to myself and looked at the caller I.D.

"Birdie, why do you have Patience's phone?" I asked.

"Because I dropped my phone down the sewer," she explained. "There are a lot of drains in New York… I know I'm not supposed to be telling people where we are! Allison's not going to tell anyone… Yeah, Allison, Near says don't tell anyone that we're in New York."

"What do you want, Birdie?" I sighed, wanting to get to the point.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," she explained.

"I'm well," I said, knowing that wasn't actually why she called.

"That's good," she said. "…. How was your day?"

"Hunky-dory," I said, unsuccessfully trying to avoid sarcasm.

"…That's good… What did you do?"

"I went to work, I went out with my mates, I had a chat with Story, and now I'm watching a horror film."

"…That's nice… Aren't you going to ask me how _my_ day was?"

I groaned. "Fine. How was _your _day, Birdie?"

"It was pretty good," she said. "…I ate breakfast… drew a picture… talked to Patience… bothered Near for a while… saw Mello—ooh and I ate a pizza!"

"What?" I exclaimed.

"I know!" she shouted. "It was great! There was extra cheese and everything!"

"Birdie!" I yelled. "I don't give a monkey's arse about your bleeding pizza!"

"Well then," she said, sounding offended. "_Forgive_ me."

"You said you saw Mello," I pointed out. "Does Patience know?"

"Yup, she was there, too. It was like a big, happy reunion, only with guns!"

"Let me talk to Patience," I demanded.

"Oh… well, you see… she might be _dead_," Birdie explained.

"What?" I shouted, _again_.

"Yeah, you see, she went and sneaked up on Mello, so it's possible he just shot her, or perhaps he pistol-whipt her a couple of times. I saw that in an American film once. It was _wicked_."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"I know!" she said. "Oh… do you want me to check and see if she's still alive?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

I heard footsteps, the opening of a door, more footsteps and then Birdie must have been tiptoeing from there on. After a couple of seconds I heard a click. Then nothing, probably more tiptoeing, then running and then a door shutting.

"Is she okay? What was that clicking sound?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's fine," Birdie said. "That clicking sound was just my camera phone."

"You told me you dropped your phone down the sewer."

"Oh… right… I lied," she admitted. "I just wanted to use Patience's phone, so I told her I lost mine. I mean, I didn't want to use up _my_ minutes," she explained. "Anyway, do you know how much it _costs _to make a call to _England _from _America_?"

"Well, why were you taking a picture?" I wondered.

"Future blackmailing purposes," she explained.

"Okay…"

"So, are you coming?" Birdie asked.

"Where?"

"America, of course," she specified.

"Why would I do that?"

"Do I need to explain to you that_ Mello_ is here? Did you not quite _catch_ that?"

I sighed. "Birdie, why would I go to America just because Mello's there?"

"What the—" she began. "Did you suddenly stop caring about him overnight? What about 'Patience, please bring Mello back'?"

"Not overnight," I admitted, "but Birdie, it's been years. I've moved on. For so many years I didn't know if he was dead or still alive. I don't care anymore. You've already heard me say this. Anyhow, I asked Patience to find Mello a long time ago. I can't believe she's still going after him for me. I reckon I'll come, though. To stop Kira, and to help Patience find Mello."

"Wait, what? Patience is here to find her _mum_."

"Birdie, I don't think that's the only reason."

"Oh, I see," Birdie said, grasping what I meant. "Patience is using your promise as an excuse to find Mello, because deep down inside, she really cares about him and still wants to find him, but she's in denial and hasn't quite figured out how she feels about him yet."

"I just meant that she might miss her mate, since we all know how important those are to her, but sure, let's go with that!"

"Okay, I'll tell her you're coming because you want to solve the Kira case, and you got sacked, because Patience gets all awkward when people butt into her personal life."

"Oh heck; my job," I said, just remembering I had an actual life.

"No worrit, I can get you sacked," Birdie assured me. "I know you're boss's number."

"Wait, Birdie, don't do that!" I shouted. I was too late, she hung up.

I sighed. I guess this meant I was going to America.

* * *

**_Patience_**

I exited HQ and walked softly but quickly, seeing if I could catch up to Mello. I looked around a corner, and saw him walking away. He didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry, considering what he'd just done.

I took a step forward, and I must have stepped on a can or something (New York isn't exactly the _cleanest _place), because I heard a loud crunch. I quickly turned to run away, but stopped when I heard Mello's voice.

"Stop," he said, and I could tell that he'd pulled his gun out on me. "Turn around, slowly." I stayed still. "_Now._" I hesitated, but turned around after a moment. Mello's reaction didn't change when he saw my face. "I know you work for Near." There was no anger in his voice when he said this. "I doubt he'd send someone out after me. You're from Wammy's, aren't you?"

I must have looked like a complete idiot, staring at him like I did. "Birdie was there, so you must be from Wammy's too. You look about Near's age, and I never found anything on you. Who are you? What do you want?"

I was silent, staring at Mello, with a bewildered look on my face. "Mello, are you serious?" I said in a soft voice. "Don't you remember?"

He looked at me for a moment, and his eyes widened after a few seconds. "Patience?" he whispered. I nodded.

His eyes narrowed, obviously furious that I'd joined Near. "You're looking for your mother." It wasn't a question. Again, I nodded.

I was extremely surprised at what he did next. He put his gun in his pocket, grabbed my arm, pulled down my wrist band and looked at my wrist. There were cuts there that were a couple of days old, which one could easily tell. "You said you'd stop."

"And you said you'd stay!" I shot back.

"How long have you been doing it?" he asked with a frustrated sigh.

"When I first met you? Once. I'd seen some teenager in my neighborhood do it, so I tried it. I wasn't even sure what it was supposed to do. It hurt; I hated it, so I didn't do it again. That was when I was ten. Then I started again when you left, and it still hurt, but I didn't hate it anymore. That's when I was fourteen; I'd changed my mind by then. It's the only thing I can count on; these scars are the only thing that I know are actually there, and always _will _be. What, did you think leaving was going to make everything all better? Did you even think how any of _us _would react?" I was screaming by then. You see, this is what happens when I don't whisper "patience" to myself.

"You're an idiot," is all he said. "What did you want?" I was surprised how quickly he'd dropped the subject. It's like he hardly cared. Perhaps he _didn't_ care.

I hesitated. What did I want? I wasn't even sure _I_ could answer that.

"Why did you leave, Mello?" I asked.

"You know why," he answered.

"You left everyone," I said. "How could you just forget about all of us?"

"I didn't forget," he said.

"You _left_ everyone," I repeated. "Do you know how much you hurt everybody? Lacey? Allison? Matt?" I resisted the urge to add myself to the list. "Do you even care? Do you even miss anybody?"

Mello pulled something out of his pocket. It was a piece of paper, singed at the edges, from some sort of fire. I looked at his face, and it was then that I actually noticed the burn marks all over him. Hadn't Mr. Yagami died in an explosion?

Mello held out the piece of paper; I hesitated, but grabbed it after a moment. It was a picture. I looked closely at the picture, observing it.

Mello and Joy were near the front of the picture, arguing—as usual. Allison was behind them, staring and laughing at the sight. Matt was sitting on her right, playing a video game of some sort. On Allison's left sat Birdie, who was simply staring at the camera, smiling. On Birdie's left was a girl that I didn't recognize, looking bemused as she stared at Birdie with a smile, wondering how in the world the child could ignore the arguing going on. In the back of the picture I could barely make out Lacey, staring at Mello from afar.

I was glad to see that he had something to remember us by, even if I wasn't in the picture. "Who's that?" I asked, pointing to the girl next to Birdie.

"It's you," Mello said matter-of-factly.

I was shocked. I looked the girl up and down. She looked extremely happy, and wore a light blue dress with a red bow around the neck. I barely remembered. It was the end of the summer, when all of the eighteen year olds left for college. That year May had been one of the people to leave, and we'd all gotten dressed up to see her off. May had taken the picture, something to remember us all by. There must have been multiple copies.

I stared at the girl in the picture. Me. I was no longer surprised that Mello hadn't recognized me. I was practically a different person in that picture. I was joyful, content and had a large smile on my face. Smiling… I hadn't done that in years.

"May," I said, looking up at him after a moment. "May is dead."

His eyes widened.

"Kira killed her. I think."

When he heard that his expression changed back to one that was angered yet calm. The same expression he'd had when he had found out who I was.

"Is that all you wanted?" Mello said after I handed back the picture to him.

I knew I couldn't convince him to stay. That was impossible. I should have nodded. I should have said yes. I don't know why, but I grabbed on to his vest with both hands, and buried my head into his chest. I didn't cry. I just stood there like that for a minute. Mello stiffened, but didn't push me away. He didn't hug me either; he just let me stay there for a moment. I missed him more than I would ever have admitted.

I could have sworn I heard a clicking sound, like a camera or something. I highly doubt it, though. After a moment I pulled away and stared at him. He nodded, and then put a hand on my shoulder; after a moment, walked away.

I had done it again. I had let Mello leave _again_. If Allison found out that I let him leave, not once, but _twice_, I don't think she would _ever _forgive me.

I walked back into the headquarters, shutting the door, and saw Birdie, who was just closing my phone. "Success," she said with a devious grin.

"You talked to Allison?" I asked. "Was that her?"

"Yeah, sure," Birdie said. "Allison's coming. She's going to help work on the Kira case, because Kira's a sod, and she's been sacked."

That was surprising. Allison loved her job, and was good at it, too. "How did she get fired?" I asked.

"That's not important," Birdie said. "Did you hear that, Near? You now have another SPK member."


	11. Feelings

**_Allison_**

I'd arrived at the S.P.K. H.Q. in three days. I left as soon as Birdie got me fired, which didn't take very long. Little did I know that soon after I arrived, things would begin to get difficult.

"I've already explained it to you," Birdie said. "A notebook of death. Shinigami. Fake rules. Fake L. Kira. I want a doughnut."

"Well that's just queer as a clockwork orange," I said.

"I know! That's what _I_ said," she exclaimed. "…Can I still get a doughnut?"

"Gevanni, please put me through to L," Near requested.

"Understood."

"L, we caught Mello," Near said.

Birdie pulled out a sketch book, mumbling something about Near being a twat and still wanting a doughnut.

"But he's gone. Yet we've questioned him to some degree," Near told him. That was a lie and a half. Birdie said Mello _willingly_ told Near some info.

"Near, he didn't leave, but you let him go, didn't you?" the fake L said. Well, wasn't he a Mister Know-It-All.

"No, he's really gone," Near lied. I think. I'm still not completely sure of what happened when Mello came. I just know there were quite a few of guns. "Then I found some facts we were interested in, and I must have your opinion on them. Mello said the notebook was haunted by a Shinigami, a God of Death. Did you ever see such an existence?"

"A God of Death does exist," L the liar said after a moment, "but I haven't told you about this on purpose because I thought you wouldn't believe us if we told you such a thing from the beginning."

"I'd like to ask the God of Death lots of things," Near said.

You see, I love Near and all. He's an adorable yet slightly creepy kid, but these were the moments when I agreed with Birdie, and wanted to box his ears.

"What bothers me most is," Near began, "among the seven rules there are apparently some fake rules."

"Fake rules," L numero dos said after a moment. I smiled. Seeing as we were all listening to L, he probably had people listening to Near.

"Yes," Near replied calmly. Big surprise.

"That's what Mello told you," L the… I ran out of puns... pointed out. "He may have confused us."

"Yes, it may be so," Near said, "but I want your opinion. If there should be fake rules amongst them, which one would it be?"

"If I think by process of elimination, it will be the one saying, 'If you don't write another name in thirteen days, you will die.'

"Shinigami, are there any fake ones among the rules written in the notebook?" Awkward silence. I half thought that L was off his trolley. "He says there's no fake rules. Isn't it Mello who is telling a lie? Also, this is the notebook that, if you write a name on, the person will die. We can't test it."

"A Shinigami is there with you?" Near said, grinning. He was kind of creeping me out. He must've been creeping Birdie out, too, since she was trying hard to concentrate on reading her drawing, but kept glancing up at Near every now and then mumbling something about dying and evil smiles. Patience was looking at Birdie, most likely concerned.

"Yes," L answered Near's question.

"You said that the notebook is in the hands of the NPA now. L, you are also in the NPA. This is true, isn't it?

"That's right," L said.

"Is anyone besides you listening to our conversation right now?" asked Near.

"Yes, there is," L said hesitantly.

"I came to understand little by little," Near began. "Second L…and members of the NPA… Have you seen the first L in person?" I raised an eyebrow. He didn't _seriously _think that they'd met the first L, did he? At Wammy's House we only talked to L once, and even then we were just staring at a screen with the letter L written in calligraphy, talking to L, who was obviously using some sort of voice modifier.

I heard a clicking sound. "He broke contact with us," Gevanni confirmed.

"Then he will answer that he's seen L next," Near stated.

"That was just rude," Birdie said, to which I nodded in agreement. Immediately after she said this there was a click, apparently L calling us back, causing her to frown.

"It's true that some members of the N.P.A. have seen the original L in person," admitted L, much to my surprise.

"Hmm," Near said, grinning. "So you all have seen him, haven't you?  
"Well, then let's say... this is just assumption, though... Let's say Kira's among those who have seen L in person. In that case, why did Kira, who killed L, let you all live? Why didn't he kill you all with L? Don't you think it's strange?" Well, he certainly knew how to be subtle.

"Near, there cannot be any 'ifs' in this situation," said L. At this point I had to supress the urge to yell at him to answer the bleeding question.  
"We have gone through many scenes that assured us Kira wasn't amongst us. That's why we could come this far. On the contrary, the fact we are surviving proves that Kira is not among us. Kira must have gotten the personal data of L in some way. This is our opinion."

"Is that really so?" said Near, still grinning. "I think the thirteen-day rule is fake. Even if the rule is fake, do you think your assumption can be correct?"

"The Shinigami says all of the rules are true," L pointed out. "Are you saying the Shinigami is telling a lie?"

"We're supposed to trust the creature that started this whole mess in the first place?" I mumbled, looking at Birdie.

"Well, I believe Mello more than the Shinigami," Near said. "A Shinigami is not reliable. If my assumption should be correct, I would say Kira's amongst you and he made the Shinigami lie."

"Near, though I understood what you said, it's beyond our control that we write a name in the notebook. In the past, we already discussed verification of the notebook, but it's always been our conclusion that we should respect life and should never try the notebook."

"Then let me suggest something," Near proposed. "I will write Mello's name in the notebook. Of course, if you know his name."

Birdie looked like she wanted to kill Near more than usual at that point. Gevanni, Lidner and Rester were all staring at curiously. My eyes were wide in shock, having no idea whether or not Near was bluffing and wondering why he was assuming that L knew what Mello's name was. Patience seemed to be the only one with no reaction, a calm expression on her face. Well, I suppose she didn't pick that name for nothing.

"Mello should be punished by the death penalty when he is arrested," Near said. "I caught him, but he has escaped from us with our blundering. I should be responsible for that, and I'll write his name. If I specify the place where he dies, you'll be able to check his death very easily. Later, try anything, like D.N.A. analysis with leftovers from the site of the explosion." At this point I was just wondering if Near was serious or if he was actually just two steps ahead of L. He always had a good poker face.

"If you don't write another name within thirteen days, you'll die.' To look into this rule will benefit the investigation and will do no harm. I will try this at the cost of my life."

"Near, please wait for a while. We'll discuss your suggestion now," said L, followed by another clicking sound. I got up and walked over to Patience, knowing that if I addressed her from across the room she'd be too timid to respond.

"Do you think he'll let Near do it?" I asked her.

She shook her head. I gave her a look, and she elaborated, knowing that I'd want more than a simple yes or no. "He's had plenty of time to write in the notebook and see whether all the rules are real or not, but said he wouldn't because he values human life too much. He's either telling the truth, in which case, he's not going to budge, or he's Kira and doesn't want Near to test the notebook because the thirteen-day rule _is _fake."

"Either way the answer will be the same," said Near, surprising Patience, who had thought she'd been talking quietly enough for only me to hear her.

On cue, there was the clicking sound again, along with L's answer. "Near, we can never test the notebook by any means, and we will keep it responsibly."

"That's what I expected," Near replied.

* * *

**_Lacey_**

Despite the fact that she was walking along the hectic streets of New York, Lacey wasn't paying all that much attention to her surroundings. She had been in New York City for a couple of days now, as that's where one of her tournaments for one of the many sports she played was taking place. So far she hated it, and wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as she possibly could. New York. New York her _ass_. If York was anything like New York, she would have to make a note to never go there.

Lacey simply made her way down the sidewalk, quietly singing a song to herself. She had heard some children in England singing it as part of a game that looked something like pat-a-cake, though it was practically known worldwide at this point, having originated in Japan. Taking carefully paced heel-toe steps, she sang the little nursery rhyme, note for note.

_Kira is a killer_

_You have best behave_

_Because if you commit a sin_

_He'll send you to your grave_

_Kira is our saviour_

_He can tell what's right from wrong_

_But if you disobey Him_

_Then you have betrayed Him_

_And Kira will kill you_

_Yes He will come and_

_Hunt you down_

It was then that a man roughly brushed by her, knocking her in the shoulder, and off balance.

"Oy, john!" she shouted, causing the man to turn around. "Are you out of your tree or something? Next time have a butchers before you decide to walk into someone!"

"You talking to me?" he asked.

"Of course!" Lacey replied. "What, are you a cabbage? Hows about you learn to walk properly on your own two plates you plonker?"

"How about you just calm down?" he suggested, sounding rather annoyed as he tried to make sense of the woman's thick Cockney accent and otherwise strange dialect.

"I'll keep me hair on when you learn to stop acting like a Herbert! So why don't you use your loaf before—bloody nora…"

"Jesus Christ, I can't understand a goddamn word you're saying, lady!" the man replied, walking away.

"Naff, then," Lacey, mumbled, taking her cell phone out of her bag. "…dickhead." Despite her dainty, feminine exterior, Lacey was still as rash as ever—not that she'd ever admit it. Staring at what had torn her attention away from that idiotic New Yorker, Lacey couldn't help but grin, and snapped a picture of the spectacle on her phone, already knowing fully well who she would send it to.

* * *

_**Allison**_

Feeling my leg vibrating, I realised that I hadn't shut off my cell phone, and pulled it out of my pocket.

Curious as to why Lacey texted me, and noticing that the subject of the message was "In NY (unfortunately)", I opened the message, which read "Think I've lost the plot. Or maybe not? ;)"

Opening the file that had been attached to the text, I frowned when I a picture of a man that looked a lot like Mello walking down the streets, trying to remain unnoticed. I immediately knew that Lacey was trying to mess with my head again. Ever since she'd gotten over Mello she'd been convinced that _I_ loved him. I swear that girl is mazed. "He hasn't left yet? What in the hell is that idiot up to?"

"Who?" Birdie asked. I showed her my phone, and seeing both the sender and the picture, she sighed. "That lunatic is _still_ stalking Mello?"

"I doubt it, Birdie," I replied, rolling my eyes.

It wasn't long after that Lidner's cell phone went off. "Near, it's Mello," she said, handing him the phone.

There was silence for a while before Gevanni spoke up.

"Near, there's a man coming here. He only has his cell phone. He doesn't have any cameras."

Hearing this, Near plugged in Lidner's phone to one of the computers so that everyone could hear. He put the call on hold for a moment and dialled L.

"What's the matter, Near?" was his answer.

"No, I made a mistake," Near said, ending the call and switching back to Mello. "Let the person in," Near instructed.

"Understood."

The door opened, and a large man with dark brown hair walked in.

"Good afternoon. Nice to meet you. I am Near.

"Please have a seat. I have something to ask you.

"You're Mogi, aren't you?

"Just like you, we and Mello want to catch Kira, too. I suppose you have understood this. Would you cooperate with us, risking your own life?

"I heard you've met the former L, the true L. Is that right? Was there anyone among the HQ who L suspected as Kira. You can only say yes or no…

"…Mello, this agent has probably already been influenced not to say anything by Kira."

'_Mello?_' I thought. '_Is he cooperating with Near? That doesn't make any sense._'

I looked at Birdie, who looked annoyed, and at Patience, who looked nervous, but by no means surprised.

"I agree with you, Near," I heard a familiar voice say. "If he won't say anything, Kira is supposed to be among the N.P.A. There can be no reason not to cooperate with us to catch Kira. If not by the notebook, it's clear he's been influenced by Kira himself.  
"I've already had my men use the notebook and try some, and found that the person who had written names on the notebook did not die after thirteen days." I stiffened hearing this, but I suppose even Mello was willing to stoop to new levels in order to win.

Near pondered this. "If a person did not write a name for more than thirteen days, he or she did not die. Don't you have anything concerning to this fact? Any trifle thing will do. All we want is to catch Kira. You don't have to tell a lie. I suppose you don't like your fellows to be suspected. Then why don't you tell us all and decide the issue? You'll feel fine."

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"I, Demegawa, have pinpointed the hideout of an evil organization that is attempting to catch the god, Kira, and now we have closed in on them with my fellow. Watch the power of common people! Watch the power of justice!"

The purring of a phone going off filled the room, and the many screens filled with the events taking place outside were replaced by the letter 'L'.

"What's wrong, Near?" L asked when Near answered the call. "I know agent Mogi was sent to you by Mello. I had Mogi say nothing and I've been listening to you. If this continues, Mogi also…"What's going on, Near? Is this Mello's strategy to wipe out the S.P.K.? Or does the S.P.K. have only a simple protection system, even ordinary people know its whereabouts."

"Isn't it nice how he pretends to care?" I mumbled to Birdie, who nodded.

"Near, try to escape from the place now," L advised.

"How dare you say that, for you are Kira," Near replied.

"W-what?" L stuttered. "Why are you still saying such a thing? If this goes on, Mogi might also be killed. Just escape soon."

"It's just, the moment Mogi-san came here this started," Near pointed out. "I could never think this happened by chance when other organizations to catch Kira exist in other countries. You are Kira. This is what you did, expecting everything will turn out to be good if all of us S.P.K. members and Mogi die. Also, when we die, all you have to do is kill all the other members of the N.P.A. H.Q. That must be what you have in mind."

"W-what?" L exclaimed. "Stop clowning around, Near. You've jumped to the wrong conclusion and are trying to make us believe it."

"Every one of you of the N.P.A. there," Near said, aware that others were no doubt listening in on the conversation, "Kira is at least among you. Just consider this." Near hung up, having said what he needed to.

"The first group, break the door and enter!" boomed Demegawa as the television clicked back on.

Birdie groaned, clearly growing frustrated. "Near, don't you think that hanging about while/until the angry mob outside finds us mid be _dangerous?_"

However, Near did not reply, his eyes instead now fixated on the screens showing the riot going on just outside. "What foolish guys. I'm not surprise to know there are such people as stand for Kira, but I suppose they just expect in their heart that Kira judges the evil. These people who came here are even different from such ones. They are more hopeless idiots. "Those who have gone as far as to worship Kira can be blind soldier-like murderers and will have done just the opposite thing from what Kira originally aimed. The followers who were taken here by such worshippers and do not have their own will. Fools who simply want violence, those who are enjoying this turmoil. Among them, there must be quite a few anti-Kira."

"Near, it is no time to analyse these people," Commander Rester averred.

"Yes, it is," near replied. "Those who stand for Kira will be sideliners who hate only their own danger. The violent mob down there are selfish people who just want amusement. Don't you think so?"

"W-well, I agree with you, but—"

"—Then let's make use of such facts," said Near, interrupting Commander Rester." If we use L's assets and the anti-Kira people we hired, we'll succeed."

"B-but once we carry out the plan," Commander Rester began.

"Let's carry it out," said Near. "We've already prepared for it. I expect it's interesting."

Soon after the skies of New York City began to rain down money.

"P-pilot, go to the floor the money comes from!" Demegawa ordered.

"Mello, now we're escaping from here," Near said. "I'll cut off the line of Mogi's cell phone.  
"Commander Rester, please issue an order that they wear police officer's uniform. I'll pay them later a far fatter price than the money you see now scattered. Well, some of them should lose their head with money and pretend to chase the money we scattered. Please issue such an order.  
"Commander Rester, my portrait has been handed to the N.P.A. through Wammy's House." Looking from me to Rester, he said, "If L is Kira, you, and possibly Birdie and Patience, are the only S.P.K. members whose faces they don't know. That is, you should not get separated with Mogi, for you will not be doubted."

"Oh, here comes police squad," noted Demegawa. "The police have been sent out for this panic. I suppose they came not to control Kira followers, but to calm down this turmoil."

"Won't an eleven year old stand out in a mob?" Lidner pointed out. "She's not big enough to fit into a uniform, and even then it's obvious that she's not an adult."

"Attending a mob is something I would do," Birdie said, as if that would justify it. "But only if there was nothing good on the box."

Looking at me, he said, "You stay with Birdie. You could pass off as her older sister or something. Some of these Kira fanatics are teaching this Kira nonsense to their kids as if it's some kind of religion, anyway. Just be sure to keep her away from any cameras if you can, just in case.  
"Let's go. Now we are safe even if we openly go out of the entrance. "We can throw away Mister Mogi's cell phone into someone's pocket outside."

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"Gevanni, will communication with Watari… L… make a comeback?" Near asked.

"Yes, I hope I can redeem it in a few days," Gevanni answered.

"As Mister Mogi will tell nothing, we have to make other members of H.Q. tell," said Near.

"Near, now we can use the scrambled communication with Watari again," Gevanni said.

"All right. Then hook me up," Near instructed. "Rester, please shut Mogi's mouth."

"Near. L, speaking. Are you all right?"

"No. Mogi-san has died of a heart attack. I'll send his body to the N.P.A. in a few days. If any of you hear our conversation and think Kira might be among H.Q., please get in touch with me with the following phone number," he said, listing off numbers.

"Near, and all the members of H.Q. Whoever wants to cooperate with Near, please do. I'm not satisfied to continue the investigation under this situation. I think it's ideal that both SPK and us cooperate on the investigation with both fully understanding."

Once Near had disconnected with L I immediately walked over to Mister Mogi, undoing the cloth that Rester had tied around his mouth.

"I'm sorry about that, Mogi-san," I said to him in Japanese. "Near is… eccentric… or cautious… or both."

I was surprised to see Mister Mogi smile after I told him that. Then I realized it was probably due to my Japanese. I believe that everyone there was familiar with Japanese, enough so that they could understand most of what L and Near were saying to one another when they shifted to L's mother tongue. However, like any language, people who know Japanese but are not native speakers tend to speak slowly. Though the accent may be spot on, you can generally find out if someone is foreign if you listen to the speed of their speech, or if they're unable to keep up with you. This was no doubt the case for the S.P.K. members. Near could speak fast enough, though he didn't really bother trying the accent. A language's accent is a reflection of its culture and history, full of emotion.

'_That mid be why_,' I observed. '_Sometimes I wonder if Near _has_ any emotions…_'

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"Near, speaking. Would you come over here and talk on the condition that you won't tell the H.Q. about this place? Of course it is after we check whether or not you aren't Kira nor Kira's spy."

"Understood," replied a voice on the other end of the line.

"I have one more thing to say to you. Mogi-san is alive. I told a lie to help a guy like you make up your mind."

"A lie?  
"Then, may I speak to Mogi now?

"Yes."

"Mogi speaking," said Mogi when he received the phone.

"Mogi… Mogi, I'm coming to you now," said the voice on the phone. "First I'm going to listen to them, and then talk about what I can tell."

"Yes. I've come to think it's better," Mister Mogi admitted.

"He can speak! Mogi-san is some guy." Near said.

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"You are Mister Aizawa, aren't you? I'm Gevanni of the SPK. Please get in. Also, put this on."

"Oh these are not sunglasses but an eye mask," said Mister Aizawa once he was in the car and blindfolded.

"I'm sorry for that," Gevanni apologised. "As we don't have absolute trust in you yet, this is a step to prevent a kind of careless mistake we won't repeat."

"We don't trust you yet.' Well, it's vice-versa."

"Gevanni, drive for about two hours and then bring him here," Near instructed him.

"Mister Aizawa, you don't have any communication devices with you, as you promised, do you?" Gevanni asked.

"No, I don't even have my cell phone with me right now."

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"Near, it looks like they're back," I noted.

"Mogi-san, he is Aizawa-san, isn't he?" Near inquired.

Mister Mogi nodded.

"Let him in," Near instructed. Commander Rester unlocked the door for Gevanni and Mister Aizawa.

"Aizawa," said Mister Mogi.

"Mogi!"

"Nice to meet you, Aizawa-san," said Near.

"I can't say 'nice to meet you' with my blindfold on," Mister Aizawa replied.

"Understood. If you answer a few questions fair and square, I'll take it off.  
"I hear you were near the former S.P.K. headquarters. Why?"

"Because we were following Mogi, who was led by Mello."

"Of course at that time you had on some communication devices to contact L… I mean the second L, didn't you?" Near inquired.

"Yeah, I had communication equipment to talk with L, and a transmitter to tell him where we were. I also had a camera with me, but now, I have no tools, as I was told."

"Then take off your blindfold," Near said. Mister Aizawa did just so.  
"That he let you have a camera probably means that L was Kira and he wanted to see Mello's face. That also means you are not a Kira follower who has the ability to kill a person just by looking at his or her face. I don't think you had some bargain with Kira after that. I believe you have come here to cooperate for the investigation."

"You said cooperation, but I still don't trust you completely," Mister Aizawa explained. "I am still a member of the N.P.A. I'll cooperate with you ask much as I can. However, I have something that bothers me considering your theory that L is Kira.. I just realised that such a possibility is not zero."

"Why did that bother you?" Near asked. "What part of that bothered you?"

"Though I said that bothered me, it does if I believe Mello," Mister Aizawa specified. "If I cannot believe what Mello said, I don't want to say anything."

"What Mello said… You mean the thirteen day rule, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Indeed, the way Mello took was too much, but it was because he wanted to catch Kira," Near explained.

"To be more specific, Mello wants to catch Kira before Near," said Lidner. I raised an eyebrow. She sounded so certain of that, like she knew Mello's character.

"For Mello and myself, L has been the only person we adore, and the only person who deserves our respect." I couldn't help but clench my fists, and I noticed Patience staring sadly at the floor. "L has been the goal for all the members of the Wammy's House. It's clear that L, our respectable goal, was killed by Kira. We want to catch Kira by all means. Don't you think it's a natural feeling? Once he knew Kira's means of killing was a notebook, he should want to get the notebook as a clue to catch Kira. So Mello, heedless of danger, put himself among mafia and made use of them. Then he robbed of the notebook. Though his way might be wrong, if you get the notebook, it's natural you try it. Mafia… they were good targets to try the notebook on. I don't think Mello had to write down names by himself. It should be a wrong way, but it was all because he wanted to catch Kira, who he had been hating. Well, whether the rule was true or not, you can't know unless you try it, which N.P.A. wouldn't allow you to do. If the thirteen day rule is fake, you feel bothered, don't you, Aizawa-san? Why is that?"

"There was a person suspected by the former L and was in custody," Mister Aizawa admitted. "After having been in custody for fifty days, he was released. Then when the thirteen day rule which came out when we caught Higuchi made him innocent."

"Then that is, the present L? Is that right?"

"Yes," Mister Aizawa verified. "In fact, another person was also in custody, who was called the second Kira."

"Oh, I know. That was the one who caused a ruckus at Sakura T.V.  
"If the thirteen day rule is a fake, then the two are definitely Kira, aren't they?"

"It's too presumptuous to say 'definitely' just because L suspected it," Mister Aizawa replied.

"It might be so," Near admitted. "By the way, why did you release them after fifty days of custody? According to you, you didn't find out about the thirteen day rule until after they were released."

"They were in custody without being able to move their hands for over fifty days, but Kira's murders did not stop," Mister Aizawa pointed out. "It would have been natural to make assume that they are not Kira and should be released. "

"It wasn't L who said they should be released, was it?" Near said.

"No," Mister Aizawa admitted. "We agents forced him to do so."

"Then did L release them immediately?" Near asked.

"No, L had Yagami-san, who was the chief at that time, test them. He let the chief out and told him to say, 'L came to the conclusion that you two are Kira and the second Kira.' And tell them he would take them to the execution ground. While on their way to the execution grounds, the chief pulled over and pointed his gun and them, saying, 'I'll kill Kira and then I'll kill myself.' L thought that if they were Kira and the second Kira, they would kill the chief, and he made a judgement based on that."

"You didn't know of the existence of the notebook at the time, so if they didn't have the notebook at the time, the play meant nothing, didn't it?" Near pointed out.

"No, if I think about it now, it means doesn't."

"Kira was some guy," Near noted. "Kira made the best use of the custody and made himself innocent."

"Why can you say that?" Mister Aizawa asked.

"Of course you saw the rules on the notebook after you had caught Higuchi," Near said. "If you had got the thirteen day rule before that, it would have looked like a lie. He expected he would be in custody and he wrote down the fake thirteen day rule among the true rules of the notebook. Then he handed the book to someone else and waited till L caught the person and got the notebook."

"But the rules of the notebook were written with material that doesn't exist on earth," Mister Aizawa said.

"Then he made the Shinigami write it down or he borrowed something to write with from the Shinigami," Near said. "You won't tell me the suspected Kira let himself be in custody on his own will, will you? If it was his own will, that settles it. Then trusting L's ability, he waited until L caught Higuchi, got the notebook and saw the thirteen day rule. He happened to have been released before that, but whether or not he was released didn't matter."

"But Near, all you are saying is just a guess and without any evidence," Mister Aizawa asserted.

"That's right," Near admitted, "but if I narrow down to the person in custody, and keep on investigating, surely. Then who were they? The two?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you that," said Mister Aizawa. "As I told you before, I am a member of the N.P.A. and I'm working under L."

"Then could you tell us anything except their names in as much detail as possible?" Near requested.

"Agreed."

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"Thank you for your useful information," said Near. "You two may go back now."

"You heard that much and then say 'go back'?" Mister Aizawa said.

"So I thanked you for your useful information," Near replied. "Especially the trade for the Shinigami eyes in exchange for half of the rest of someone's lifespan that is made with the Shinigami, served as a useful reference. I haven't heard of it before. Though I don't know the present condition, Kira didn't do this trade at first, which the second did. I knew that."

"Is that all?" Mister Aizawa asked.

"If we investigate, it will be hard to investigate the second L, so we should begin with the suspected second Kira," Near ideated. "If we catch the notebook, it will make a clear proof. But, since I suggest you come and tell with the second L listening to me, too, if the second L is Kira and the second Kira is murdering now, I don't expect I can catch the notebook. I also think it difficult to get the confession of a person who was in custody for over fifty days and said nothing. To begin with, I don't think he let the person who was suspected that far keep on murdering up till now. Especially when the world has changed so much, he can find anyone who can replace the second Kira."

"Then you can do nothing about this?"

"No, at present I can do nothing," Near confessed. " I'm sorry for my big mouth. If anything new happens I'll call you. In such a case, please call the other number I told you earlier. Gevanni, please drive these two to a train station or an airport. I feel sorry for N.P.A. if I keep them here for so long. Then sorry to say, please be blindfolded again."

"What the hell was that about, you idiot?" Birdie said once they'd left. "We didn't learn anything useful! You didn't even try to get him to tell you who the suspects were!"

"On the contraire, I did," Near replied.

"Um, no, you didn't," Birdie said. "Allison, you're the Japanese expert; we didn't learn anything useful, did we?"

"They didn't tell us anything specific, no," I said.

"So Near's just a bonehead then. I told you, Patience!" Birdie was rather stubborn. That's how she got into the S.P.K. in the first place. I hear Mister Ruvie had denied her request for six months straight, but she wouldn't stop screaming (and I literally mean screaming, as if she were being brutally murdered or something) until Mister Ruvie gave in, begged Near to take her, and then went on a therapeutic vacation for a month in order to relieve his stress.

"It wasn't intentional," Patience replied.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" asked Commander Rester.

Patience looked at Near for help, but he didn't say anything, instead staring at her expectantly, a slight grin on his face. Apparently whatever it is he had figured out, he wanted Patience to explain. I don't know why, though. Maybe he wanted to see if she had come to the same conclusion that he had? She was gifted, after all. People have a lot of different talents at Wammy's, but Patience's was probably the most useful I know of.

"Chief Yagami," Patience began, "h-he said that he would kill himself. A-after he killed Kira."

"And?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"He would feel so guilty about killing Kira, th-that he would kill himself afterwards. That means the suspected Kira must have… must have meant something to him. He was willing to die for him. Chief Yagami couldn't live knowing that he ended this person's life, or maybe he couldn't live knowing that this person was Kira. Like he felt responsible for the existence of Kira; like he could have prevented it. The only person I… I can think of who would do that for someone… who would feel that way... is a parent. They brought them into the world…"

"So they have to be the one to take them out if it," I finished for her, realising what she meant.

"Exactly," said Near.

"But I thought you suspected the second L of being Kira?" Birdie said.

"Yagami's son is a member of the N.P.A., right?" said Patience. I was surprised to hear her speak up willingly.

"So this Yagami guy is Kira _and_ L?" Birdie said.

"Yagami Light," said Near.

Patience nodded. "Our number one suspect."


	12. Thanks for the Memories

**_Allison_**

"God bless you," I said after hearing Patience sneeze.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Feeling under the weather?" Birdie asked, a slight grin appearing on her face. "Have you been going for more midnight strolls?"

Patience stared at Birdie curiously, unsure of what she meant.

"Ouch!" cried Birdie, gripping her shin and turning to glare at me. "What was that for?"

"Whatever are you talking about m'dear?" I purred, giving her a look that said not to bring up the previous subject again. I looked away from Birdie, leaving it at that, and searched through my purse and pulled out a couple of letters. It wasn't something we talked about because Patience didn't know. She didn't know that _we_ knew.

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"Near!" cried a five-year-old Birdie, weaving through several children twice her size in an attempt to get at Near.

"What is it?" Near asked, seeming slightly interested. Birdie hadn't hated Near when she was younger, and she knew he was smart, but she hadn't ever talked to him, at least, as far as I can recall.

"Patience won't wake up!" Birdie said.

"I'll go get the ice water," said Joy.

"What's Patience doing sleeping at this time of day?" I wondered aloud.

"No!" Birdie said, sounding frustrated that she wasn't being understood. "She fall'd down and now she won't get up!"

"What?" I exclaimed. Noticing a familiar face, I spoke up. "Mrs Danjuma!"

Taking us to where she had been, we found Patience lying unconscious on the floor. Mrs Danjuma quickly knelt down next to her and put a hand on her forehead.

"Joy," said Mrs Danjuma, "look through my purse and fetch my car keys."

"Wayo," said Joy, trying to get things straight, "you're taking her to the ozzy?"

"Aye, now start looking.  
"Allison, I need you to get a hand cloth from linen closet and run it under cold water. Then bring it to me.  
"Matt!"

"Huh? Wow, what happened?"

"Perhaps if you weren't always looking at that gadget, you might notice these things. Now go find Mester Ruvie and tell him I'm going to take Patience to hospital."

~x~

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Mello assured me.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," I admitted.

"May!" Birdie exclaimed when she saw May, running towards her to give her a hug as she always did.

"How do?" May said, scooping Birdie up into her arms.

"May, you're back," I noted.

"Aye," May said. "Mrs Danjuma told me to head back. She will be keeping an eye on Patience."

"How is Patience doing?" I asked.

"They said she's going be right," May said. "She had a high fever, but I can't reckon how she got it. No one has been sick lately."

"Maybe she caught cold," Lacey suggested.

"How could she catch cold?" May said. "None of the childer have been outside long enough to get sick."

"She has," Near said.

We all turned to look at Near, who hadn't said a word up until then.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Every night she goes outside," Near said.

"How would you know?" Joy inquired.

"I couldn't fall asleep one night," Near began. "I looked outside the window and noticed that she was standing outside in the snow without a coat. I found it odd. Too odd to be something that she'd decided on the spur of the moment, so I noted the time and checked the next night. On the third night I came to the conclusion that this was something she has been doing on a regular basis."

"Why would she do that?" I wondered.

"Probably lost someone," said Lacey.

"Huh?"

"Someone probably died," Lacey elaborated. "She's scared."

"I suppose that would make sense," Joy admitted.

"I don't get it," I said. "Why would she do that just because she lost someone?"

"'Just because she lost someone'?" Joy repeated, seeming disgusted with what I'd said. "Don't talk wet! You wouldn't understand, you git."

"Joy," May warned. "Don't get mad at Allison. Thou can't blame her for not knowing how it feels."

"We deal with things in different ways," Lacey explained.

"No one can tell you how to mourn," Joy added.

"Well, Near, why didn't you tell anyone?" I wondered, even though I knew that it was probably a stupid question. It's not as though Near were a talkative person.

"She didn't want me to," he replied.

"Patience asked you not to tell anyone?" I said. "How did she even know you knew?"

"She didn't tell me to, no," Near said.

"For crying out loud, Near, we haven't got all day!" Lacey exclaimed.

"Her talent," Near said.

"Wow, it even works on you?" Joy mused. "Now that's something."

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"Allison, what are you doing?" Birdie asked.

"Looking through my mail," I told her. "I'd grabbed all my mail before I left, and planned on reading it on the plane, but there was a brat kicking my seat and screaming the entire plane ride, so I planned on reading it when I arrived in America. Then a bunch of people tried to kill us, so I'm going to read my mail now before something else bad happens."

"Oh. Who's that one from?" she asked, pointing to a large envelope.

"Story, Harrowing, and… Lacey?"

"Ugh, Harrowing?" Birdie echoed. "I hate her."

"Why?" I asked. Patience gave her a questioning look, also curious. She'd never met Harrowing. Or Story, for that matter.

"Are you kidding me?" Birdie asked, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "She makes _Near _look like a social butterfly." I suppose I understood what she meant. Birdie hated "emo" people, as she put it. "Anyway, what kind of person names themselves after a drug?"

"That's _heroin, _Birdie, not Harrowing."

"Oh," she said. "Well… Open it up, let's see what you got."

Although it was none of Birdie's business, I opened the envelope, curious as to why Lacey's name was on it.

There were two pieces of paper in the envelope, I pulled out the first one, it was a letter, and read it:

_Dear Allison,_

_ Harrowing and I really miss you. I was talking to Lacey over the phone, and she suggested that we send you a letter. She knows you well, so we decided it was a good idea. We hope you're having fun with your new job. It's amazing that you can speak so many different languages. I'd love to have a gift like that! _

_ Harrowing has been making some really nice artwork lately, and some of it has even been sent to a couple of art exhibits. I am writing a new story. It is going quite well! I think this one may be the best yet._

_ Lacey says she misses you, too. She suggested that Harrowing should draw you a picture, and then send you the drawing. So we did! I think it's one of Harrowing's best drawings. It's a lot brighter and more cheerful than most of her others. Not that they were bad, it's just that this one is really nice. Anyhow, we hope you like it, and good luck with everything!_

_ I really hope you can visit us this December. You said that you might be able to celebrate Chanukah with me! I'm even going to make latkes; they're my speciality. Good luck again._

_Love,_

_Story, Harrowing, and Lacey_

I smiled at Story's letter. Obviously by "Harrowing and I really miss you", "we decided it was a good idea", and whatnot, she was speaking _for_ Harrowing, who probably didn't care one way or the other. And Harrowing's "nice" artwork was probably her usual disturbing stuff. Story is always overly nice and sensitive to other people's feelings. I'm not sure if Harrowing has any, though.

Still, I couldn't help but feel suspicious. Lacey wanted the girls to send me a letter. Lacey was a dear, but she had an evil side. Hesitantly, I pulled out the drawing Harrowing had made. I immediately frowned when I saw the drawing which Lacey had suggested. The tart.

It was a picture of me, I looked around thirteen, and my arm was around Mello's shoulder. I was laughing, and Mello looked annoyed yet amused. I ripped the paper in half, crumpled it up and threw it into the nearest trash bin. Too many memories. I was trying to forget, but it was too late. The memories came rushing back. I wasn't there anymore.

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I was seventeen.

I hung up my cell phone, and turned my head when I heard the door open. Lacey, Birdie, Story, and Joy walked in.

"Joy?" I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I lost a necklace of mine," she said as though it were obvious. "The only place I can think of where it would be is here."

"Allison, you left dinner early," Story pointed out. "Is everything all right?"

"No worrit, Story; I'm fine. I just wanted to call my friend. I haven't talked to her in a while. The time difference can be such a bother."

"Patience?" Lacey guessed. I nodded. "That's nice, how is she?"

"She says she's fine, which means she's probably rather miserable."

"Nothing new, then," said Joy, looking under one of the beds.

"I can hardly believe she's changed so much," Lacey said, and I nodded in response. Patience was hardly the same. Ever since Mello left and she headed off the S.P.K. to find her mom, she'd acted differently. She was more closed off. I was probably the only person she could talk to even _remotely _normally.

"Is Patience one of your old roommates?" Story asked.

"Yeah, she's a nice girl," I said. "I think you'd like her, Story."

"Did she find anything on Mello?" Birdie asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I didn't ask."

"Why?" Lacey asked. "I thought you wanted Patience to find Mello."

Lacey didn't know Patience was working on the Kira case, but she _did _know that she was eventually going to head for Japan to find her birth mother. She also knew that I'd asked Patience to bring back Mello. She had come to the conclusion that if Mello was going to try and find Kira, he'd likely end up in Japan. So she had gone to see off Patience and heard me ask her to find Mello, after which she basically got on her hands and knees and clung to Patience and begged/screamed for her to bring back Mello.

"Three years ago," I said. "I don't care anymore, Lacey. You should know. You got over Mello a while ago." I still couldn't believe she had.

"Yes, I'm quite aware," Lacey said, "but you and Mello were a lot closer than he and I was. You can't seriously have stopped caring."

"It's a miracle!" I said sarcastically.

"Is it all right if I asks who Mello is?" Story asked.

"Gobshite?" Joy offered up.

I nodded in agreement. "He's a sod, Story. He's a sod."

Birdie laughed at the comment. "A sod you're in love with."

"Put a sock in it, Birdie!" I said. "I don't love him!"

Joy chuckled. "That's a blag if ever I heard one."

"Don't deny it, Allison," Lacey said. She always got involved in other people's business. Or at least mine.

"I'm not denying anything, Lacey," I shot back.

"You don't even realise you love him," Lacey said with a sigh.

"That's because I _don't_ love him," I said, practically spelling it out for her.

"Denial," she said. "You're in love all right. That's just part of it."

"I swear, Lacey!" I exclaimed. "I don't care!"

"Lacey, I believes Allison is telling the truth."

"You even got Story to believe them Porky Pies." Birdie snorted, but managed to supress the rest of her laughter. Lacey simply rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you didn't get into Wammy's for your acting skills, Allison?" Lacey teased.

Lacey wasn't evil (though she sure as hell was acting like it right then), but once she got over Mello, for some reason she figured I had a crush on him, and that I should find him. Go figure.

"What is _wrong_ with you, Lacey?" I wondered.

"Many things," Joy replied, earning a disapproving frown from Lacey.

"The hell?" Birdie said out of nowhere. "When did Harrowing get here?" I turned to see that Harrowing was sitting on her bed. She looked up at Birdie. "You were just sitting at a table for dinner/supper! How did you get here?" Harrowing shrugged.

Lacey sighed, admitting defeat that I had (once again) won. She sat down in Harrowing's bed, looking at her latest drawing. Harrowing noticed Lacey's interest, and with a monotone expression, held out the notebook, giving her permission to look. Harrowing never spoke or showed any emotion. She communicated through motions and gestures. I'm pretty sure she can talk; she just doesn't want to.

Lacey took the notebook from Harrowing, nodding her head in thanks. Lacey turned the pages, making different disturbed expressions each time she saw one of Harrowing's graphic pieces of art. She stopped at one, and grinned.

"What are you made up about?" Joy asked, noticing the diabolic look on Lacey's face.

She turned picture so that I could see it. I rolled my eyes when I saw the drawing, and I knew Birdie must have been grinning, too.

It was of me. I was on my hands and knees, and I looked scared and exhausted. My wrists and ankles had shackles on them, and I was chained to the ground. It looked like I was in a cavern of some sort. In the background was a picture of Mello, with no emotion. I understood the meaning. Harrowing thought Mello still had a grasp on me, and was holding me down.

"Lacey, how does Harrowing even know what Mello looks like?"

Lacey smiled. "I had copies. I used to collect them."

"You're mazed," Birdie said matter-of-factly.

"Deffo," Joy agreed.

"And so you gave one to Harrowing?"

Lacey shook her head. "I know that Mister Ruvie told us to get rid of any pictures of Mello and Near out of caution for the Kira case. She saw me with them, when I was throwing them out—"

"We were still supposed to have thrown them away by then," Birdie pointed out.

"Well, I threw them away a bit later, okay? Anyway, she stared at one of the pictures, and I told her who it was." She had a smug look on her face as she batted her lashes at me. "It looks like even Harrowing can tell you has feelings for him."

"Lacey!" I shouted. "I don't care about Mello!"

"How _daft_ do you think I am?" she asked, putting down the sketchbook and standing up. "I can see it in your mincers."

I looked at her as if she'd sprouted a second head. "_What?_"

At the same time Birdie burst out into a fit of laughter. When she finally stopped, Lacey was staring at her looked rather annoyed.

"What?" said Birdie. "If you want to be taken seriously then don't keep talking like that!"

Lacey glared at her, while Joy smirked in amusement, knowing that Birdie was walking on thin ice.

"Birdie, don't," Story cautioned. "Do you remember what happened when Aaron made fun of the way Lacey talked and then started talking in a Mockney accent?"

Recalling how that scenario ended up with the other party getting driven away to the hospital, Birdie stopped laughing and, trying to sound un-intimidated, said, "It wasn't that funny anyhow."

She swayed back and forth, looking at her light pink skirt as it swayed back and forth with her movement. "After Mello left, whenever I thought about him, I would aways have that look in me mincers." She looked up, directly into my eyes, and smiled. "They say the eyes are windows to the soul." I just stared at her, out of comebacks. "I should get back to me room now," she said. "You should probably go, too, Birdie."

"I'm good," she assured Lacey.

"Buzz off," I said.

"Fine," Birdie said. "I didn't want to talk to you anyhow."

The two opened the door and left, Lacey stopping to turn around and smile at me once, looking directly into my eyes.

I sighed. "I'm going to get ready for bed," I said, even though it wasn't late.

Story gave me a caring smile and nodded. Joy just shrugged, not caring one way or the other.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Then I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I stared into my eyes. When I saw them, I snapped. When I saw my dark brown eyes, staring right back at me, something inside of me went haywire. Without thinking, my hands tightened into fists. I raised my right hand, and banged it against the mirror with all my strength. My reflection broke into a million pieces, and I fell to my knees. I heard feet pounding on the wooden floor.

"Allison!" I turned my head see Story running into the bathroom, followed by Joy. They both stopped dead in their tracks, Story to absorb the scene and Joy when she noticed a locket I had found and hung on the mirror which was now lying on the floor. Story quickly walked towards me, carefully avoiding the broken glass, and then got down on her knees. Joy bent down, picking up the locket from the floor and squeezed it her hands; then held it tightly against her chest. Then she stood up, and I expected her to leave, clearly having found what she had come for; I was surprised to see that she approached me as well, bending down to look at me.

My eyes were too clouded with tears to see very much, so I wiped them away and stared dumbfound at Joy. I saw something in her eyes that shocked me, something I'd never seen before. Not a look of annoyance or anger; it was different. I can't say for sure what I saw in her eyes, but I suppose it was something akin to understanding, sympathy. There was hurt in her eyes, loss. Joy, who had always acted so tough, so distant, so harsh, now looked fragile as tears fell down her cheeks, causing her mascara to run. One hand still clutching her locket, she used the other to touch my arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Story looked at my tearstained cheeks, and then at my hand, soaked with blood and impaled with glass shards. Finally she looked into my eyes, and that's when she understood.

Story grabbed my hand that wasn't bleeding, and looked into my eyes, her own beginning to water.

"It's all right Allison!" she said. "It's all right!" she put my hand over my chest, her own eyes watering as well. "Because the good things will live in our hearts."

"Always," Joy added.

My eyes widened when I heard this, and something clicked. I hugged her tightly, feeling her little fingers digging into the fabric of my shirt as she hugged me back. I tried to choke back my sobs, to hysterical to be surprised when I felt Joy's arm wrap around my shoulder. After several minutes, I finally managed to calm down.

"Let me see your hand," Story said firmly.

"I'm fine, Story, really," I assured her.

"Meshugaas," she said. "Let's see it."

I held out my hand and Story turned to look at Joy, seeking her opinion.

"Ar 'ey," said Joy, frowning when she got a better look at my hand. "You're going to need to go to the ozzy."

"No!" I insisted, not wanting anyone to figure out that I'd had a breakdown. "No."

Story gave me a stern look, which was something she did very rarely. "Enough fantaddling, now. Either the hospital, or I's bringing Phoebe to help."

My eyes widened. Phoebe was about thirteen, and was skilled in the medical field, which would obviously be helpful with murder cases. She was skilled enough to become a doctor or a medical examiner, but was too young.

"Okay, hospital," I quickly replied.

I don't care if Phoebe's the best damn doctor in all of Britain. There's no way in hell that I'll ever let that kid anywhere near me with a sharp object. She's _mazed _I tell you. Mazed_._

After that I'd gone to the hospital, where I got a bunch of stitches. We'd told Mister Ruvie that the mirror had simply fallen when I'd touched it. I doubt he believed that (I know Lacey didn't), but he let it slide that once.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

I'd been so upset. Over Mello. _But that was then,_ I thought,_ and this is now._


	13. Face-to-Face

**_Patience_**

"The second L, who I think is Kira, is Yagami Light," Near stated. "It isn't surprising that he cooperated with the NPA and now he's L. No choice.  
"Lidner, I believe Mello is still staying in New York, correct?"

My eyes widened when I heard this, and, along with Birdie and Allison's, my eyes darted to Lidner.

"Yes," Lidner confirmed.

'_So I was right_,' I realized.

"Then behind my back tell him when and where Gevanni will let Mister Mogi and Aizawa out at…" As Near said this, Allison left the room. Birdie looked at me, expecting me to go after her; she frowned when she realized that I wasn't going to. I couldn't. "Actually, you can tell him everything except the fact that L is Yagami Light. I expect Mello will arrive at last to Yagami Light. If more than just our side investigates, we'll have a much higher possibility of knowing the second L's whereabouts and who the second Kira is."

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"Commander Rester, I've asked too much of you, but could you please fly over to Japan?"

"Understood. I'll inquire about Yagami Light as much as possible in Japan."

"I can't thank you enough."

* * *

**_Allison_**

"Yagami Light. He's a grad student of To-Oh University, but after his graduation, nobody saw him in the grad school. Currently, the N.P.A. has all their recruits hold false position titles for fear that they might be known as the staff of N.P.A. In 2000 and 2002, Light Yagami advised N.P.A. to the solution of certain cases and was given testimonials by the N.P.A. Considering these cases and his father, we should think that he now works for N.P.A. Plus, when I asked some former students about Light Yagami as a student of To-Oh University, I've got some strange answers which bothered me.  
"Light Yagami passed the entrance exam with the highest score, but there was another one, whose name was Hideki Ryūga, the same name as a popular artist in Japan at that time, who also got the highest score. The two made a public address at the entrance ceremony. Ryūga often hung out with Light Yagami. The photo of Hideki Ryūga hasn't been found anywhere. Plus, I've got info that Hideki Ryūga, Light Yagami, and Misa Amane met together at the University in June 2004, and since that time no one has seen Hideki Ryūga. Since then, for several months, both Light Yagami and Misa Amane were missing.  
"Using the same alias as a popular artist, he became close to Light Yagami, who was suspected as Kira. It might have been his make-or-break gamble considering if his true name hadn't been known, he wouldn't have been killed even if his investigating was leaked. However, the second Kira, who was able to get names just by looking at faces, appeared, and Kira and the second Kira cooperated. It works out. Light Yagami, Kira, Misa Amane, the Second Kira, and Hideki Ryūga, L."

"It becomes consistent with the report of the tailor that after Mister Mogi and his friend left from here they headed for Misa Amane," noted Gevanni.

"This also agrees with the fact that Misa Amane is now the fiancée of Light Yagami," Lidner added.

"Near, this Kiyomi Takada the announcer of N.H.N., Japan," Rester began. "She was a classmate of Light Yagami in the university and she had a special relationship with him."

"What do you mean by 'special'?" asked Near.

"I can't say with certainty, but it seems other classmates thought they were more than just friends," Rester explained. "I don't think this happened by chance."

"He has also been friends with Amane since the university." Gevanni

"Near, over here I'm moving around as a close adviser to Takada, however, the bar has been raised, and it will still take a good amount of time."

"I see," said Near, "I thought you'd be at that point. Thank you, Rester. I will also be arriving in Japan shortly. That will be all."

"Right," said Rester, "I'm out, then."

"Does that mean we'll be off to Japan, too?" I asked.

"Yes, it does," said Near.

"We'll need to take two planes," Patience said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Picture Birdie on a twelve hour flight with Near."

"Ah, I see you're point."

"Would one of you mind going with me?" Near said.

"I suppose," I said, "but why?"

"I've never experienced the first class procedures of riding on a plane alone, so I want to go together."

"Okay then, who's going with me?" Birdie asked.

I gave Patience a pleading look, silently begging her to go with Near.

"Allison will go with you," Patience relented. She didn't sound exasperated or angry, simply accepting the fact, the thought of being alone with Near nothing new to her.

I have nothing against Near, but being on a long plane ride with him would be… well, uncomfortable is an understatement. We'd just be sitting in awkward silence until the two of us reached Japan. What Patience probably didn't realise, though, is that this wasn't the only reason I wanted her to go with Near. Not only would I feel more comfortable, but Near probably would as well.

He and Patience weren't all that talkative, so it's not as though they would be talking to one another the entire way to Japan, that is, if they even talked at all. They'd sit in silence, but it was the silence that reassured me. Patience probably never noticed, but I did, and I know others did, too. The first time I realised was years ago back at Wammy's. The younger kids would all go outside for a while, and the older kids would be finishing up their classes. Patience hadn't been feeling good one day, and so she'd stayed inside along with Near, who never came out with the others.

Then I'd come back afterwards and seen her and Near; neither of them were talking, Near was playing with one of his toys and Patience was just sitting, looking at the ceiling. The two obviously knew that the other was there, and if it was anyone else in there with Near the room would have been seething with tension, but with Patience, it was different. It was the kind of content silence you could only share with a close friend, one you'd known for years. I was almost put at ease just by observing it.

"Great," Birdie said unenthusiastically, "we're going to Japan."

"Homesick?" Patience inquired.

"No," Birdie replied, her tone unconvincing.

"Birdie, you can always go back to Wammy's if you want to, love," I said, glancing at Near, who nodded in confirmation.

"I can't go back!" Birdie explained. "It's worse there!"

"Why?" Patience asked.

"Essence!"

"Wait a second," I said, "are you saying that the reason you wanted to help Near was actually because of Essence?"

"Well," Birdie began, "well that's a whole other ball game."

"Birdie!" I exclaimed.

"Essence?" said Patience.

"Patience I swear, sometimes I wonder if you can say more than one word at a time," I said. "Anyhow, Essence is—_was_—Birdie's roommate.  
"Birdie, I told you to talk to her! What could she have been doing that was so bad?"

"She's a Wiccan!" Birdie said defensively.

"So?"

"_So?_" Birdie repeated, surprised that I'd ask such a question. "So she has a doggone _altar _in the room! And knives and stuff! She said the knife was wooden, but I know she was going to sacrifice me in the middle of the night or summat!"

"Birdie, I'm fairly certain that Wiccans _don't _perform ritualistic human sacrifices," I replied.

"I don't care, there are still too many rituals!" she said. "There are her weird holidays, and then she has other rituals. She tried to 'dispel my negative energy'. I don't even know what that means! And she has a staff—a staff, Allison! I swear if I ever see another pentagram in my life I'll jump off the nearest _bridge _I can find!"

"There are other people who do religious rites and rituals at Wammy's," I pointed out, "even I did, and still do, for that matter."

"Allison, you can eat your saviour's body all you want, just don't do it in my room."

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"Allison?"

I looked over at Birdie, who was sitting in the seat nearest the aisle. She was staring at me, her eyelids heavy as she gave a small yawn.

"What is it, my dear?" I said.

"What will you do if you find Mello?" she asked.

I looked out the window, as if I might find the answers in the clouds we flew by.

"I don't know, Birdie," I admitted.

"What do you think he will do?"

"I don't know," I repeated.

"Allison?"

I sighed. "What is it, Birdie?"

"I miss May," she drawled sleepily.

My eyes widened and I turned to look at Birdie again, who had tears running down her eyes but didn't bother to wipe them away. It was odd, seeing her like that, but it made me remember that she was still just a kid. It was an easy thing to forget.

"So do I, love," I whispered, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "So do I."

The flight to Japan had been long, much longer than the flight from England to America. It gave him time to think about the Kira case, but there wasn't all that much to think about. He had reviewed what he knew and was currently in the middle of making his next move. He had pondered what would happen next, but it wasn't long before he had gone through every possible scenario that he could think of. He quickly grew bored with this, knowing that it would be hours before they finally arrived in Japan.

His mind wandered until he thought of a new topic, one he had thought about several times before. The woman sitting next to him; perhaps woman isn't the right word, her apparent frailness making her seem almost like a frightened child at times. She bothered him. That was the only way to describe it.

Near was a genius; to say this was by no means an exaggeration. He was able to solve countless puzzles, mathematical and otherwise. He was able to determine what kind of person you were, and would be able to predict your next move. Even if he wouldn't guess correctly, which in itself was a rare occurrence; he would still have some sort of guess, already having a certain understanding of your character.

He had known that Birdie, despite her seemingly dauntless personality, would cry when she learned that May had died. He had known that the second L would refuse to test out the Death Note. He had known that the people outside of the S.P.K. headquarters were greedy and would go after the money. He had been able to predict all this, as well as various other things, because after observing a person for a short time, he would know them as well as he knew the back of his hand, but with Patience, it was different. He was never able to grasp her; he thought he knew what kind of person she was, and whenever he began to think that he had finally come to understand her, she would do something to prove him wrong.

It was no doubt a challenge—_she _was a challenge—and very few things challenged Near. He found the prospect interesting though, and like any equation, riddle, or puzzle, he was determined to figure it out, be it easy or difficult. Especially if it was difficult.

She was indeed a challenge. And Near was determined to figure her out.

* * *

**_Patience_**

In the new Japanese headquarters, Near called L. After talking to Watari, he was then connected with L.

"Near, it's L."

"L. Long time no see," said Near. "I'm thankful to see there's still a possibility of correspondence."

"Near, under what business do I owe this pleasure?" L asked.

"In order to ensure the capture of Kira, I'm in Japan," Near revealed.

Noticing that Birdie was about to make some sort of exclamation of surprise, I shook my head, as Near was not wearing a headset and L could currently hear anything going on in the room.

"Now, if you're investigating Kira, that means you should be trying to probe NHN's Takada Kiyomi," Near noted, "but those, of course, are standard moves.  
"That's why I came to Japan, to do precisely the same investigation."

"Well, if it's that investigation, I'm already doing it in Japan," L admitted. "If you can cooperate, I can think of a way to work together, but you obviously have your doubts about me, so you won't do that, right?"

"You just said I'm right?" Near asked.

"Yes," L confirmed. " I've been in contact with the announcer Takada, in person, and I've been investigating from there."

There were people listening in on the conversation, then. Near believed L to be Kira, and L was aware of this, knowing that he could not convince Near otherwise.

'_That means he's trying to convince someone else._'

"In addition, this sides investigator, Mogi-san, is getting closer to being able to get in and out of NHN."

"L, we'll definitely get inside NHN Just one thing," Near assured him. "You said you've already contacted Takada and began investigating her?"

"Yes."

"In that case, I want you to somehow pass onto Takada-san that some members of the SPK have left New York, and have come to Japan to catch Kira," Near requested. "For Takada-san, including the current state of Kira's society, this would be information she would definitely announce. And I won't mind if you told them this, including Near, who's in charge, they amount to only six people.  
"Aside from myself, the members are Rester-san, Giovanni-san, Aizawa-san, Allison-San, and Patience-san, whom Aizawa-san and Mogi-san met at SPK. I'm not lying. That's the truth."

"Patience and Allison?" L said after a moment, considering this information.

"Like myself, they are from Wammy's House," Near explained. "It's somewhat of a custom there to pick a new name and lose your old one."

"I see," L replied.

"If Aizawa-san or Mogi-san see any of my agents at NHN, by all means, please tell L," Near said. "I don't want to hinder either of our investigations. However, don't let them release any pictures of them. Because this information serves as a lure for Kira. There are only six of us, including me. Kira won't run; Hell definitely try to kill us. To kill me, a potential avenger."

"Near," L said, "one of my colleagues informed me that there was a sixth person. A young girl."

Birdie looked around, as if checking for confirmation that the young girl in subject was her.

"Yes," Near admitted. "I had been looking into getting information on Mello. The ex-wife of one of the Mafia members working with Mello was willing to give us information, but feared for her daughter's life. She was convinced that her ex would either try to kill her or kidnap their daughter as payback.  
"She was scared and wanted her daughter to be safe quickly; I recommended the Witness Protection Program, but she was insistent that there was not enough time, and so she requested that we hide her daughter instead, while she would join the Witness Protection Program.  
"After the mafia was taken down at their base, we waited a while for reassurance and then the mother was contacted and informed that she could come for her daughter. We planned on sending her daughter to the airport upon the mother's arrival, but, as you are aware, things didn't go quite as planned. However, we managed, and she is currently back with her mother."

"I see," said L. As unlikely as Near's story sounded, the idea that Birdie, who was only twelve, being part of the SPK seemed even more unlikely, so he probably bought the story.

"Near, you have six members in Japan," L noted. "That amount's okay, right?"

"Yes," said Near. "There was a tie when I had assembled many, but now are numbers are unimportant. I am in Japan."

"I, too, am in Japan," L admitted.

"Well then, since were both nearby, it might happen that we'll meet, face-to-face," Near suggested.

"That's true."

"It will be a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes."

"Then well surely be able to conclude after this affair with Kira."

"We certainly will."

"Just by dealing with Kira and the existing notebook, the world won't return to how it was," Near admitted. "If we erase Kira and the notebook from this earth, we win. If we die, Kira wins. This battle is now, no, it was, from the beginning, never about capturing anyone. It's about a one-on-one battle to prove who's the best, and that cannot be judged by the laws of this world. One-on-one, this battle was simply to prove who's the best."

"All right then," said L. "We'll discuss things further later on. Goodbye."

"Why did you lie about me?" Birdie asked once we had disconnected.

"Everyone else here is an adult and made the decision to come here and put their lives on the live," Near explained. "You are still a student at Wammy's, and therefore Roger's responsibility, and now that you are here, you are my responsibility."

Birdie frowned, clearly unhappy with that idea. "I'd argue with you, but I feel to sick."

"What's wrong, love?" Allison asked.

"I've got a stomach ache," Birdie explained. "I feel like I'm going to vomit."

"Well, we'd best avoid that," said Allison. "Probably the plane ride; some people aren't good with long flights.  
"Near, is it all right if I take her to a pharmacy and get her some medicine?"

"Of course," Near said.

"All right, then," said Allison, "let's get a move on then, Birdie."

"Whatever," Birdie said, clearly too nauseous to say anything more.

* * *

**_Allison_**

"You just wanted to leave, didn't you?" Birdie said.

"Pretty much," I admitted.

As the two of us walked around a corner, I bumped into someone, causing me to drop my things on the ground.

"I'm sorry," the woman who'd bumped into me apologised, helping me pick up my things. "I should have looked where I was going."

"That's all right," I assured her. "It was my fault, too.  
"So, are you new to Japan?"

"Huh?" the woman replied, a look of realisation then coming to form on her face. "Oh, no. I've been here for several years now. I moved here from America a while ago. I didn't realise that my accent was still so noticeable."

"Allison is just really good at noticing those sorts of things," Birdie said in English, preferring to speak in her native tongue whenever she was able to.

"Oh, so then you two aren't from around here either," said the woman. "Are you from England, then?"

"No, not England," I lied, switching to English and using a fake yet convincing Australian accent. I was a translator… well, before Birdie got me sacked, that is. I'd been all over the world and met all kinds of people, and I am quick on picking up languages, accents included. "A lot of people think that, but we're actually Aussie."

"Oh," replied the woman, raising an eyebrow, "I know a lot of English people, so I could have sworn your accent was…"

"Yes, well, they do sound very similar, don't they?" I said. A lot of people got them confused, that's true. Well, except for me.

"What are you—"

"Anyhow, it's nice to meet you," I said, interrupting Birdie. "I'm Allison Jordan and this is my little sister Beatrice."

"A pleasure," said the woman. "My name is Jessica. Jessica Lockwood."

"Oh," I said. I recognised the name. "Well, goodbye then."

Birdie and I walked into drug store where I was going to buy something for her stomach. She wasn't good with aeroplane rides and I didn't know for how long she would be able to supress the urge to vomit. Feeling a tug on my shirt, I looked down at Birdie, who was staring sceptically at me.

"What was that about?" she asked. "Since when are we sisters from Australia with new names?"

"We can't be too careful, Birdie," I warned her.

"But that was Jessica Lockwood," Birdie pointed out.

"It's probably just a coincidence Birdie," I said. "Now go wait outside. I don't need you shoplifting and getting the both of us into trouble."

"Fine," she relented, stepping outside of the shop.

Listening the ring of the bell as she stepped outside, she waited for the click of the door shutting before going back to where she'd seen Jessica. Birdie was the math expert here, not Allison, and she knew that the probability of another Jessica Lockwood being in the Kanto region of Japan and knowing people from England wasn't very likely. Of course, the probability of running into the Jessica Lockwood they were looking for was also a far-fetched idea, but Birdie was unable to ignore the feeling in her gut, feeling that there was more to this serendipitous event than Allison believed.

"Jessica!" said Birdie, running after the familiar silhouette.

"Hmm, what is it?" said Jessica, as she turned around to see the young blonde running after her.

Birdie hesitated a moment, pondering whether or not she should do what her gut was telling her.

"…You dropped something."

"Oh," Jessica said, noticing that her wallet had fallen out of her pocket, "thank you so much, hun. I really should buy a purse."

"No problem," Birdie said as Jessica walked away, wondering if she had just made a big mistake.


	14. A Big, Happy Reunion, Only with Guns!

**_Matt_**

"Ya, I seen her when I was in Japan."

"You're sure?"

"For crying out loud, why bother asking if you ain't going to believe me?"

"I just need to make sure."

"Well then ya, I'm blooming sure!"

"And that's all you know? You've told me everything?"

"The full monty!"

"All right, thanks then, Lacey."

"And what about you, Matt?" she asked. "You told me everything?"

"Yes, Lacey, I did," Matt said.

"May's funeral's come and gone, why do you need to know about this now?" Lacey inquired.

"I found a watch there," Matt explained, "it has 'Amane' engraved onto it, so I wanted to be sure I'd send it to the right person."

"You must think I'm a blooming muppet, don't you?" Lacey said, her tone clearly indicating her annoyance.

"What do you mean?"

"You ain't the only smart one here, Matt," Lacey pointed out. "Now you may have been closer to succeeding L then I was, but it don't take a genius to tell that you're full of crap.  
"Heart attack. Japanese friend. She was with her when she died. You think it's connected, don't you?"

"Lacey…"

"It ain't going to be related to Kira, if that's what you think," Lacey said. "May ain't never done nothing wrong."

"I know."

"Do you?" Lacey queried. "Seeing Mello, that it? Mmm, ain't none of me business anyhow. Just be careful, Matt. I don't agree with what you're doing, but I don't want you kicking the bucket either. I say back out while you still can, 'fore it all goes pear-shaped. Have a butchers and realise what it is you're getting yourself into… you nutter."

"Just keep this to yourself," Matt said.

"Who, little old me?" Lacey said innocently. "Ehh, no need to worry."

"I've got to go now, Lacey," said Matt. "I need to smoke a fag."

"Still smoking? You get cancer that way. Or clog up your arteries and die of a heart attack. If you keep this up, looks like you'll die of a heart attack either way. Just me opinion.  
"Oh, and if you talk to Allison, be sure to wind her up for me. She ain't said nothing to me since the last time I brought up Mello."

"How long do you plan on keeping that up?" Matt asked.

"Just until she admits it," Lacey said.

"Great lot that'll do," Matt said sarcastically. "Right, I've got to go now."

"Don't want to keep gabbing with Lacey? All right, I ain't going to keep you. Do the off, then, and try not to get into a ruck. You have a tendency to do that."

Matt couldn't help but chuckle. "Bye, Lacey."

"Ta-ta!" she said.

Again, Matt chuckled when he hung up the phone. Only Lacey. Despite the British stereotype, saying "ta-ta" was actually considered fairly unusual in England, extremely clichéd and even a bit childish. That's Lacey for you, though. Unusual and childish.

Matt thought of this as he pulled out his carton of cigarettes, noticing that he only had one left. He rummaged through his pockets, being careful not to accidentally switch the safety off of the gun he was carrying, and fished out his lighter and some money. Lighting his last cigarette, he looked at his surroundings, glad to see a nearby convenience store which would likely have a pack of cigarettes that he could buy, and so he headed into the store.

**_Allison_**

"I still don't see why I have to come with you," I said.

"Because, I want a pack of gum, and I don't know how to say 'gum' in Japanese," Birdie explained.

The two of us were walking side-by-side down the streets of Japan. Birdie had convinced me to walk with her to a convenience store and buy her some gum.

"You could have just asked," I told her. "You had no problem asking for money."

"For all I know, you would've just told me a swear word, and I'd end up being chased out of the store," Birdie replied. "Anyway, I'm only twelve; someone might jump out of nowhere and kidnap me."

"With Kira killing criminals by the dozen?" I pointed out. "Anyone who would try to kidnap someone in broad daylight in _Japan _has a death wish."

"Fine, I get lonely," Birdie said. "What do you want from me?"

"My yen back, for starters," I said.

Birdie laughed. "Good luck with that."

The two of us stepped into the convenience store; I told Birdie to wait outside, and that I'd buy her gum. She could speak Japanese, but she couldn't read it, so she couldn't tell what type of gum she was getting; she couldn't even tell the difference between a pack of gum and a pack of fags. Not to mention I didn't trust that she wouldn't try to steal something.

The store was practically empty, except for the cashier and one other customer and me. I didn't take notice of the others at first, until I walked over to the register.

Looking at the customer at the register, my eyes widened, and I wondered if I had finally gone insane.

"Matt?" I said.

Hearing his name, he stiffened, and turned to face me, the fag he'd been smoking falling to the ground when his mouth had dropped open in shock.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the cashier yelled, worried his shop was going to be burnt down.

"Shit." And with that, Matt was out the door.

"Matt!" I yelled, chasing after him. I pushed open the door, several feet behind him and cursing myself for having decided to wear high heels that day.

Birdie, who had wandered over to the next block, noticed what was going on, blinking in surprise. Instinctively, she stuck her foot out when Matt came running by her, tripping him and causing him to fall flat on his face. Once he was down and I had caught up, I sat on him to make sure he wouldn't get away.

"What," I said, panting from having to sprint after him, "the hell, are you doing here?

"And so help me God, if you say 'buying a pack of cigarettes'…

"Birdie, what are you doing?"

"Checking his pockets," she said, pulling several items out of the pocket Matt's sweatshirt, listing each item as she pulled it out. "Pack of fags… gum—ooh, I'll take that… lighter… keys… gun…"

"Birdie, hand over the gun," I said, catching her try to sneak it into her knapsack.

Mumbling a few cuss words, Birdie handed the gun over.

"What are you doing here, Matt?" I repeated.

"Oh, Allison, it's you," he replied. "For a minute there I thought you were someone else."

"Do you actually expect me to believe that?" I shouted.

At this point people who were walking by were beginning to stare. Now, let me explain how this probably looked right about then: there is a woman in her early twenties in the middle of the streets pinning down a man who's about her age and screaming in a foreign language which the majority of people can't understand due to the accents, dialect, and the speed at which the conversation is going. Someone was probably going to call the police.

"Just a lovers' quarrel," Birdie whispered to the passers-by, who all looked at her strangely, but nodded and continued to walk.

"Birdie!" I scolded. Shaking my head, I refocused my attention onto Matt. "Matt…"

"I could be asking you the same question," he pointed out.

"Mello told you to come here, didn't he?" I asked. "You might as well admit it."

"All right, I'll own," he said. "You can get off of me now."

"If he tries to run I'll set his pants ablaze," said Birdie, holding up his lighter.

Knowing that Matt wouldn't doubt Birdie's willingness to set his trousers on fire if he tried to escape, I got off of him and held out my hand to help him up. Birdie stood next to Matt, prepared to use the lighter if necessary.

"You know, for someone who doesn't care anymore, you sure do care," Matt pointed out. I kicked him in the shin, prompting him to curse; it turned out that wearing my pointed heels that day _had _been a good idea.

"You know where he is now?" I said, already having a guess as to what his answer would be.

"Yes," he sighed. "I'm supposed to meet him in a couple of minutes."

"Matt," I said. "Please."

"Damn it, Allison," he said in a tone of defeat. "I swear, you people are going to be the death of me."

We walked a few blocks (Birdie clinging to Matt with the lighter ready the entire time), and as we walked, I spoke to Matt.

"Matt, why are you doing this?" I asked him.

"Doing what?" he replied.

"Helping Mello?" I said. "He just up and left; you haven't heard from him in years, and now all of a sudden he contacts you and you agree to risk your life to help him."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" I said, slightly annoyed that he was avoiding answering my question.

"You're in Japan," he said, "so you are likely working on the Kira case as well. We bumped into each other in the same city, after all, not to mention that you're with Birdie, who should be back at Wammy's. I was third in line to succeed L, Allison; it's not that hard to figure out that you're helping out Near with the case. So tell me: why?"

"I asked you first."

"You sound like a child."

"Says the nineteen-year-old still playing video games."

"I won't answer until you answer."

"Who's acting like a child, now?" I said, but then relented. "Birdie wanted me to help out, and she got me sacked. I didn't really have any other option."

"How many languages can you speak?" Matt asked. "You could be a translator for pretty much anyone, and there are probably a million other jobs you could do, too. It wouldn't be that hard for you to find another well-paying job."

"I don't know," I said. "I just did. I never liked Kira in the first place."

"And who wouldn't want to be around me?" Birdie chimed in.

"Would you like me to list in alphabetical order, or by age?"

"Get stuffed," Birdie replied.

"Because Patience was there, right?" Matt guessed. "That's your reason."

"How did you know?" I said.

"How stupid do you think I am?" he said.

"Stupid enough to help a wanted criminal," I answered.

"Is that what you think Mello is?" he asked me. "A wanted criminal?"

"You don't know what he's done, Matt."

"I do," he said. "Mello told me. You think I would help him if he'd left me in the dark?"

"He killed a man."

"He didn't," Matt objected. "That was someone else."

"But that man died because of Mello."

"He died because he was working on the Kira investigation, and that was just a part of it."

"How can you be so forgiving?" I said.

"How can you be so resentful?" he replied. "Allison, you can't even accept why you're actually here."

"What are you on about?" I said.

"If Near _does _find Kira, then it won't be thanks to you, and Patience can find her mother without you." His words stung. "Don't give me that look. It's the truth, Allison, and you know it.  
"I'm here because I still think of Mello as a friend, and I want to help him. Why are you here?"

"I… I don't know," I admitted. "I really don't know."

"You know," Matt told me, "you just don't want to admit it."

As he said this we turned a corner into a back alley. I saw a familiar silhouette in the shadows, and a pair of blue eyes widened when they saw us approaching.

"Damn it, Matt."

"I was attacked," Matt explained, "and the kid threatened to torch my pants."

Birdie held up the lighter, lighting it for a moment in order to reinforce Matt's point.

"Allison," Mello said. He promptly pulled out a gun. "Leave."

Making a move to put my hands above my head, I quickly grabbed onto the gun Birdie had stolen from Matt and pointed it at Mello, whose eyes widened.

"I don't think you're in any position to be threatening me," I said.

Mello gave Matt an annoyed look, and Matt shrugged in response. "Matt, take the kid and leave for a couple of minutes," Mello said after a brief pause.

"The kid has a name," Birdie pointed out. "…smeghead."

Matt looked completely gobsmacked. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"I want a pizza," Birdie said. "Buy me a pizza. Do the Japanese eat pizza? I don't know, I'll eat anything. As long as it's not raw. I don't like raw things. Sushi is disgusting…"

"Put down the gun, and I'll put down mine," Mello said once Birdie and Matt had left.

"You first," I said.

Reluctantly, he did so, setting down the gun and kicking it away from him. Once he had, I did the same, albeit hesitantly.

"So what do you want, Allison?" he asked. He didn't sound angry, but rather something along the lines of dread. As though he had been hoping this day would never come.

"I just," I began, "I just had to see it for myself."

He stepped forward, coming out of the shadows and into view. Both of us stared at one another, our eyes widened in shock as we took each other in, noticing how much the other had changed. "Allison," he said in a near whisper, but his voice trailed off, and I knew he wasn't going to say any more.

I noticed the scar running down his face: a large marking from where skin had been singed in some sort of fire. I found my hand reaching towards his face, but I stopped midway, instead swinging my hand to slap him, but he caught me by the wrist before I could hit him.

"You're a selfish bastard, you know that?" I said, holding back the tears that were forming behind my eyes. I wouldn't let him see me cry.

"Yes," he replied, much to my surprise, "I know."

I shook my head. "Forget this. I don't even care anymore."

A look of frustration formed on his face and he roughly let go of my wrist. "Would you stop lying to yourself?"

**_Patience_**

Birdie and Allison had gone out, while I had decided to remain at the SPK headquarters, trying to sift through all the thoughts in my head. I had joined Near for one reason: to find Jessica. Yet now it seemed like I was there for a million reasons. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't even notice when Near had opened the door for someone after they had flashed him their business card.

"So, it's Patience now, right?"

My eyes widened. It had been eight years, but I still remembered that voice as clear as day. "It's you," I said.

"You seem surprised," Jessica said, "but then again, I guess I am, too."

"How did you…?" I wondered.

"I was contacted by a man who told me that you were looking for me," Jessica explained. "I was told where to find you."

"Mello?"

Jessica smiled. "You have good friends, Patience. Good friends that care about you." She looked me up and down, her smile never fading. "Look at you…"

"Jessica, I—," I began, trying to search for the right words.

She frowned, expecting what I was going to say next. "Just say it, Patience."

"You're my… are you my mother?"

Her eyes began to water and she smiled sadly at me. I knew then. I dropped to my knees, knowing what her answer would be before she even said it.

"No. I'm not."

"But my mother-," I began, "my adoptive mother. You knew her. All that's happened... all that you did… you have to know! You have to know who my real mother is, then!"

She walked over towards me and stopped when she was right in front of me, staring at the ground. Usually I was the one who couldn't look people in the eyes. "You're right. You're right, hun. I know."

"Then you can tell me," I replied, still looking at her.

"No," she said, "no, I can't."

"Why?" I asked. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Jessica looked up at me and then held out her hand. Reluctantly, I took it and she helped me up.

"She made us promise," Jessica explained. "We didn't know what we were getting into. We didn't know until it was too late. I swore on my grave Patience, and so did Annie."

"Annie," I said. My dreams… had they really been true, then?

"I can't tell you," she repeated, "I promised, and… and it's not my place, anyway.  
"But you deserve to know." I was surprised to see how broken up she was, choking out her words and holding back tears. "You got this far, Patience. You can figure this out on your own. You're the only one who can. Only you can solve all these goddamn riddles."

I wasn't crying; there wasn't really anything to cry about. I was just stunned, unable to speak. Jessica touched my cheek; I didn't flinch or pull away.

"God," she breathed, "you're the spitting image of her. You look just like…  
"You know, you're mother would be proud. Annie. She'd be so proud of you; you've been so strong. Just like Annie." She laughed, tears still running down her cheeks. "You're a lot more like her than you think.  
"Here, take this," she said, handing me a card. "It's my contact information. I can't tell you anything, but if you ever need to talk… I'll always answer."

"Thank you," I said.

"Don't thank me, honey," she said, shaking her head. "There's so much I could tell you if it wasn't for my own faults and weaknesses; the ghosts of the past… they haunt me. They always will, and that's why I can never tell you.  
"But Annie… Annie was different. She didn't do it because she thought you didn't deserve to know. She believed that you deserved better. Better than the truth, so she kept it from you and tried to give you something better. It might not have been the right thing to do, but she was determined to do it. It was hard for her, too, you know. All of it. Huh… she was always the baby… little Annie… but she was stronger than all of us.  
"Take care, Patience."

"You're going to keep searching for your birth mother, aren't you?" Near asked once Jessica had left.

"This isn't about my birth mother anymore," I told him. "This is about finding out the truth. I need to know what's so bad that they needed to hide my life from me.  
"I'm going to stay here, though. I'm at a dead end for now, but I'm not going to walk away from this case. Even if you don't need me, I still want to do what I can. If that's alright with you… is it okay if I stay?"

"You needn't ask."

**_Allison_**

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I said.

"That you're a terrible liar," he replied.

"I'm not lying," I said unconvincingly.

"You're as stubborn as ever," he said.

"Right back at you."

"Allison," he said, his voice trailing off.

"You don't have anything to say for yourself, do you?"

"I don't know _what _to say!" he said defensively. "I don't know where to start."

"How about how you left without saying anything?" I suggested.

"You would have tried to stop me," he said.

"I'll count," I conceded.

"I didn't want to leave."

"That's bull. If you didn't want to you could have just stayed."

"I couldn't stay."

"Yes, you could have."

"I _had _to leave."

"No. You didn't. You could have stayed but you were just to stubborn.  
"And now you've dragged Matt into this."

"I didn't force him to do anything," Mello retorted. "He chose to do it."

"Because you contacted him!" I yelled. "You're putting his life at risk."

"We're all putting our lives at risk," he pointed out.

"Everyone… everyone at Wammy's… they all want to be the one to succeed L, but it isn't even about that for you, is it, Mello? It's just a bleeding contest for you."

"I need to do this."

"Why?" I said. It was such a simple question but I could never figure out the answer. Even now, as I was talking to him about it, I still didn't know. "What are you trying to show? Who are you trying to prove something to?"

"Myself," he said. And the worst part is, as he said this, and I stared into his sky-blue eyes, I understood what he meant. "Allison, why are you here? What is it that you want?"

"I want you to suffer," I found myself saying, yet there was no surprised or otherwise appalled expression on his face in response to this. "I want you to feel what I felt."

"I felt it, Allison," he assured me. "I swear to you, I felt it. Leaving Wammy's, leaving everyone behind. It wasn't easy. I was alone for a long time."

I clenched my fists and glared at the ground, trying to hold back tears. He put his hand on my arm to comfort me, and I felt goose pimples crawl up my arms. I forced myself to look at him, at the blank expression on his face and his stone cold, dead eyes, and then I broke down despite myself. I grabbed his shirt, then buried my face into his chest and cried. He stood there for a moment before wrapping his arms around me, his embrace almost like an apology. One that I couldn't accept, because this… this was unforgivable.

**A/N: Okay, first thing's first: I don't want to get any shit for using the word "fag" here. As I'm sure you know, fag has a completely different meaning in Britain than it does in America. I try to stick with the dialect, and that's what it is there. It's not offensive, it's the way they speak. You grow up hearing that word and that's what you're going to use. I know some British people who find it stupid or annoying when Americans complain about the use of the word "fag" as offensive. I can relate a bit, actually, since we have a somewhat contravertial word we use here. Not as contravertial as "fag", but contravertial nonetheless.**

**So, we've finally dealt with Patience and Jessica. How many years did it take us? All those years, but we've finally learned… absolutely nothing. Huh… okay then.**

**Well, at least we got somewhere with Allison and Mello. Allison, you are ****_so_**** in denial, my dear. Ah, and speaking of Allison, that reminds me of some feedback a reader gave me. They wanted me to stop including Allison's point of view and not have any romance between Mello and her because she's not the main character. Well then, allow me to clarify: Allison ****_is _****the main character. One of two, at least. She and Patience are the two main OCs (not including secondary main OCs like Birdie). So, yeah, I'm going to include Allison's POV and her relationship with Mello. I have readers who ship it, and so I will write it.**

**On another note, I love Birdie.**

**Also, mwahaha my dramatic irony with Matt. The poor thing has no idea what's coming. *pats Matt on head***


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